Heroes and Overlords
by the unknown spirit
Summary: YGGDRASIL was shutting down for good, so I figured I'd take one last dive in for old time's sake and say my goodbyes. The problems started when I didn't log out and I realized that I wasn't the only who got stuck here. Now as Ainz set his sights on this world, I found myself caught in the middle of his machinations. How do you survive such a predicament?...I'll get back to you.
1. Keep in touch

So, where exactly do I begin this little tale of mine? The day I was born perhaps? I don't remember much about it, though I got a feeling I cried a lot. When I got into middle school maybe? That was when girls still had cooties, and they got taller than you, so a double whammy there. Nah. I'll make it easy and just start with how exactly I ended up in an entirely different world than the one I was born in.

For the record, I'd like to make it clear that while I used to know a few people who loved the idea of just up and leaving this boring, tedious, electricity powered world we were born in, I was never for it. I had a life outside of gaming. A job, a family, friends, and occasional girlfriend who popped up when she couldn't find someone better, the usual stuff I guess. I had all that even during my height of playing Yggdrasil, so I was never into the more hardcore aspects. Granted I knew a little more than a casual player but I never called myself an expert nor did I really think I was a very good player anyway. Of course, then a tournment would come a long and somehow I'd get lucky and end up in the semi finals. Usually losing out to some Japanese powerhouse player like Momonga or Touch Me, so I guess in hindsight I may have been better than most. My point is though, the idea of just leaving my life behind to join a fictional world was never one I would've seriously considered doing. So you could imagine my surprise when I woke up in a world with magic, orcs, goblins, lizards, and wizards.

The events leading towards that still don't really make sense, even as I look back on them years later. I was just getting over a pretty nasty cold and I had taken just one more day off from work so I wouldn't risk anyone else getting sick. It was dreary rainy day too, so I didn't feel all that bad about it. Nothing was on tv, and I was bored out of my mind so I figured I'd play YGGDRASIL for a while. When I eventually logged in, I was shocked to see that the old son of a bitch was about to expire on me, having just eight hours left till deactivation. Well that was a punch in the gut. I had way too many damn memories of this thing to not feel sad. So with a heavy heart, I decided to give the old game one last hurrah and spend a little bit of time inside it.

So I activated my character, whom I, in my infinite wisdom, named Haon the Handsome. I materialized inside a large tavern to the sounds of merriment and chatting. I had forgotten just how many people I knew in this MMO. Hundreds of them looked or sounded surprised to see me, asking where I had been all this time. I won't lie, it was good to see them again. Even more of a surprise was seeing several of the old gang from back during my all nighters.

Tommy, had settled with a chick he had met in a different game and the two had moved out west to Montana. Karly had just had twins and was getting ready for the full time job of motherhood. Plight had begun trying out for gaming championships, and Hanks was now working as a producer for some new talent show in LA, so it made sense that he was no where to be seen. Listening to their stories and how they all had pretty much moved on with their lives did admittedly hurt. I had stayed pretty much in the same spot ever since I had graduated from college so you can imagine how inadequate I we were chatting, we overheard another group talk about finally breaking through the Tomb of Nazarick down in the swamps. After they left, we all laughed long and hard. Those guys had no idea what they were in for.

For a little explanation, Nazarick, was the home to the most powerful players in the whole game. The guild Ainz Ooal Gown. A group so powerful, and a fortress so impenetrable that no one had ever made it passed the eighth floor. And that had taken a group of about fifteen hundred guys just to get that far. Not that I would know from first hand experience mind you. I knew damn well to keep away from those guys just by the look of them. The only time I ever really interacted with them was in the tournaments I mentioned earlier where I would every now and again hopefully give them a little challenge. Judging by the fact that they never killed me, maybe I left a good impression.

As for my class, I was a warrior through and through. Probably more so than what was thought of as normal. I carried a total of seven blades on my character at all times. Four steel knives strapped to my legs and arms, two rapiers strapped to both sides of my hips, and one long sword of solid jade sheathed across my back. Couple that with a dark blue trench coat pulled over a pretty standard light armor set and long flowing black hair and I wouldn't put it past you to say I looked the part of a badass. The old gang certainly thought so.

"How the hell did you ever make your guy look that cool?" Tommy asked indignant.

"I just picked what I liked." I replied, giving what must've been the world's worst hair flick. "Simplest design is always the best."

Tommy got a laugh out that particular movement. "I would agree with you save for the fact that Momonga and Ainz Ooal Goan's guys all look like demons straight out of a nightmare." Tommy said remembering the skeletal face of the master mage with a shiver.

I shook my head. "I told you don't go comparing me to those guys." I replied annoyed.

"Dude." Plight slapped the back of my head. "We don't really have a choice. You're the only one who ever managed to go toe to toe with them for a while." Plight reasoned.

"Yeah. Before getting knocked on my ass." I replied leaning back in my chair with a smile on my face.

"You should really let me train you some endurance sometime. We could be an unstoppable force of domination in the tag team circuit." Plight said with a raised fist.

"Tag team circuit?" I asked. "Great, I'll let you know when I get into wrestling games." I replied. Much to the chuckle of everyone else.

"Seriously though, you should try out for some gaming tournaments sometime. I hear they're going to be in the Olympics pretty soon." Plight said with a little awe in his voice.

"That'll be the day." Karly replied mimicking an announcers voice. "And now, ladies and gentlemen, after an exciting grueling wrestling match here are four out of shape assholes who will mash buttons for the next twenty minutes."

"Wow. No love for your own hobby." Plight replied depressed.

"I like it as just that. A hobby." Karly replied before suddenly sighing. "Sorry guys. May's hungry again."

"No problem. You coming right back?" I asked.

"Probably not." She said dissaopointed. "She won't go back to bed for a while after. Hey though, email me your numbers. We should all go celebrate sometime."

"Ditto."Plight said.

"Sounds good to me." Tommy chimed in. "I don't head out for a few weeks anyway."

"Definitely." I replied.

We then each emailed her before she waved goodbye and disappeared. We kept talking for a little while longer after. Recapping all the old conquests. There had been a few dragons and dungeons here and there but what we had really focused on were the seemingly lack luster side quests. For one reason or another, all of us had been drawn towards the idea of helping the ordinary folk. My son's gone missing in the forest. My frying pan's gone. That man murdered my family. That sort of thing. I can't say why they did it but I guess I did it because I'm cliched like that. I like the idea of there being someone out there who stands up for people. Rewards be damned. Of course if the NPCs did have some decent rewards, we'd never turn them down. Gotta make a living after all. The hours seemed to go by phenomenally fast before finally the inevitable came.

"Well, sorry guys. The wife's calling." Tommy said with a sigh bringing up his menu.

"Oh poor you. Getting to leave us for a reasonably hot woman." Plight replied causing to have a little laugh.

" Seriously though, let's keep in touch. At the very least until we find a new MMO to spend all our time in. See ya later." Tommy said with a little salute he always gave before vanishing. Not a second after him, Plight sighed in a similar way.

"Don't tell me you're leaving too?" I asked sounding more sad then I wanted to.

"Hey, some of us have try outs in the morning. Gotta get some good rest." Plight replied indignant.

"Right. Busy day of sitting on your ass." I yelled back

"Screw you man. You know damn well that it's harder that it looks." Plight said bringing up his own menu. He stopped just before logging out and looked towards me one last time.

"You'll keep in touch?"

"Damn straight man." I replied with a nod before extending to my clenched fist. He accepted the gesture by punching it with his own before vanishing back to reality. I looked around, noticing how quiet it had gotten and came to find that there was no one else around. The entire tavern which had once been filled with close to three hundred people had been deserted. With only a male waiter and a female barter set of NPCs remaining and looking at me with the same unending friendly smile. I pulled up my own menu to look at the time.

Thirty seconds till shutdown.

I gave one last look around the place and waved goodbye to the NPCs before finally logging out myself.

Or rather I would've if not for the fact that something out of the corner of my I caught my attention. Just behind the Female NPC a silver locket was hanging on the door knob that led to the wine cellar. And I, momentarily having the curiosity that would make a cat feel jealous, walked over to look at it. Strangely enough, it was a watch. A solid silver watch with a strange set of markings where the numbers should've been. Before I could even make out what in the hell it meant, A loud droning noise started bellowing into my brain. The damn noise was so loud that it caused me to lose my balance and fall to the floor which started to violently shake. Struggling against the motion, I pulled up my menu to get the hell out of here and just before my finger could touch the log out button, my eyes started falter. Every time I would try to hit the log out button my arm would miss it by an inch. I tried my best to power through it before the droning and shaking really took hold of me. For a second, all I could see were shapes and shadows that seemed to be morphing or disappearing around me and then finally, my world went black.

I don't think I'll ever know how much time really passed from when I passed out to when I woke up but all I know is that one I did, the headache that I hit me was worse than any hangover I had ever had. When it finally began to fade, I realized that I was laying on a rather funny feeling bed. I opened my eyes to figure out what the hell was going on and, well I was laying on grass. Probably the greenest grass I had ever seen.

Now things were getting weird, because the only park I lived close to was about twenty blocks away so I was pretty sure I was in a dream. Then when I moved to get up, I felt heavy, like I was being bogged down by a bunch of stuff attached to my body. When I finally did sit up though, I reached through my body to figure just what the hell was causing that and my eyes widened. I had four razor sharp blades strapped to the side of my arms and legs. I looked down to my side, and I saw two sheathed rapiers that looked startlingly like the ones my character had. My clothes had been switched out for a very familiar dark blue trench coat and on my back sitting nicely in its sheath was Jade.

That tore it. I was dreaming. I laughed out loud at the idea of what the hell was happening. I had never dreamed about actually being in YGGDRASIL before and I had to admit seeing this all on me felt really cool. My strength came back with this realization and I practically leapt to my feet. Problem was when I did a huge swath of hair folded down onto my face and into my mouth. After pushing it all back and spitting out whatever hairs fell on my tongue I realized that it was actually pretty nice out here. The sun was shining down though hidden by a few rapidly gliding clouds and all around me were just rolling fields of grass that just kept going for miles and miles before finally hitting some mountains and forests. Till the day I die, I'll never forget that fist gaze. Everything about was instantly etched into my memory. The smells, the sounds the colors, the sights, all of them compounded onto each other to make what was undoubtedly the most beautiful landscape I had ever seen. I could've collapsed right back on the ground and just stared at it for hours on end. For one reason or another, that unbelievable sight set something off somewhere deep inside my head. I began to realize that this was no dream.


	2. Fly

I really didn't want to leave but I figured this would be a pretty boring dream if all I did was just sit and stare at the landscape, so I reached inside my coat and was astonished that just like in Yggdrasil, I had an obscene amount of items that I had never really bothered to throw away. Daggers, blacksmith tools, paper, ink, oh and huge amount of clothes all neatly folded and waiting to tried out.

How did I fit all this inside a simple trench coat? Well, early on in the game I came across a rather unimpressive looking chest hidden just behind a tavern counter. When I opened said chest, this little beauty appeared in my inventory stating that I didn't have to worry about inventory space. Couple that with a the fact that rarely threw things away, and you can imagine how happy I was. Finally, after rummaging through a catalog of other items, I found exactly what I was looking for. A simple looking necklace with a silver feather mended into it. I moved to put it on when I realized that I was already wearing something. It was the same little watch I had found back when I was about to log out. Now if I had really been thinking back then, I would've started panicking then and there. But I was just too excited at the prospect at what I was about to do, that I just chucked that thing into my coat and slipped on the feather necklace.

"Fly." I commanded with no small amount of excitement. A second later, the feather began to glow brightly and a second after that I was lifted right of the ground. I laughed. I laughed long and hard as I just twirled and flipped through the air for maybe five minutes solid. I was only brought of my childish trance when I heard the sound of a few birds singing in the sky a few hundred feet above me. My face curled up into what might've been the biggest smile I had ever had and I shot off into the air. I probably should mention that flying in YGGDRASIL, while looking great, never really felt like you were flying. You didn't feel the wind across your face, or the temperature change as you rose towards the clouds. Here though, Here you felt those things and more. I flew right past the birds and further into the bluest sky I had ever seen screaming and laughing more than I had ever thought I was capable of. Once I had finally calmed down, which was probably a little over an hour after I had lifted off. I was content to fold my legs and just sit down on nothing, looking down on the world below me. Wherever I had woken up from, was pretty far away from civilization. I couldn't see a town, or village, or settlement, or even a road anywhere nearby. So with no specific place in mind, I took off in a random direction blazing through the clouds like I had been doing it all my life.

A good amount of time had passed when I finally found a road that led to a small settlement. And I in that time, I did begin to wonder why the hell I hadn't woken up yet. Not that I was complaining but still, most dreams I had never seemed to last this long. The good ones anyway. Still though, I was enjoying myself far too much to really want to wake up. Unfortunately, that all began to change when the village became more visible to me. A fire had just recently been set inside the center of it and the sounds of screaming could be heard even as high up as I was.

I'll never really forget those screams. Something about them turned my stomach upside down and even now still cause me no small sense of dread. My new foundinstincts kicked in when out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a knight with a huge great sword clutched in his hands raise it over the head of a girl who couldn't have been older than seven. I darted down, somehow ignoring the astonishing smell of blood and landed right in between them. The sight must've been a little awe inspiring as the knight who admittedly towered over me dropped his sword behind him. His helmet hid his face but I'm still pretty sure it must've been one of fear as I threw my fist right into his stomach.

I had above average strength stats in YGGDRASIL so I expected some damage to be done, but what I did was something all together different. The man was sent flying back across the village plowing through a burning barn and collapsing on the other side of it. Two things stood out to me, one I had a much more powerful punch here than I had in YGGDRASIL and two, the punch had hurt my hand. Like hitting anything would. Now, I'm no dream expert but in every dream I had ever had, whenever I hit something, I didn't feel pain from it. I was only brought out of my thinking when a yell of another grunt rang into my ear and the sound of an axe brushing through he wind pumped me full of adrenaline. I sidestepped the attack and prayed that the girl had run off after I had punched the other guy. When I saw that she was gone, I looked at my new attacker.

"Watch were you're swinging that thing." I said kneeing him in the stomach. I could actually here the bones crack under the force of my knee and I was given further proof of that when he let loose a gargantuan amount of blood onto my leg. I wanted to freeze at the sight, but my body wouldn't have any of it. Without really thinking, I then grabbed a hold of his throat and chucked him into an incoming group of other knights. I looked around for any other surprises when the sight of a two more of the on horseback came towards me with spears outstretched from their arms. Time seemed to slow as they finally came within striking distance. In what might've been my first conscious act, I unsheathed my rapiers and leaped in between the riders. Now these guys were pretty well armored so you could imagine my surprise when my blades pierced through their chests like butter and knocked them them straight off the horses with relative ease.

As all three of us hit the ground, the sounds of blood and gurgling from their mouths nearly caused me to throw up. As quickly as I could, I stood back up and pulled my blades from their chests. As the soldiers lied there choking on their blood, I finally caught whiff of the smell that had spread through the village. I don't know how I stopped myself from collapsing from it. The smell of blood was everywhere with a strong second scent of burning flesh compiled onto it. I looked around for wherever the origin of the odor was coming from and what I saw…..

I think the point I truly realized I wasn't in a dream was when I saw just in the hell people were capable of. There, piled outside for all to see, was a group of maybe twenty or thirty people. Men, women, children, all of them were stripped naked and set aflame. I stared at the massacred people for far longer than I think I should've. Not really thinking about anything accept the horror of it when I heard a loud, evil yell come from behind me.

"You! Who do you think you are?!" Something snapped inside of me. I turned around faster than I ever had before and gave the man a look of pure rage. I had a few tears coming down my face, so it must've been quite the look, if it caused him to tense up. There were about ten knights behind him who where probably the same people I had knocked down with that one knight.

"Who are you to interfere with our holy work?!" Another one shouted as I picked up my rapiers from the ground. I normally would've given some smart ass reply but after what I saw, they didn't deserve it. I dashed towards them and began to carve them up. To tell you the truth, I really don't remember exactly what I did to them. I was mostly seeing red by that point and I think it's a good thing that I was. For when I finally came out of my rage, I was knee deep in blood and gore and there wasn't a single intact body of the men who had done this. Heads, arms, legs, so many body parts were missing from so many of them that it might've been the world's bloodiest puzzle game if you tried to put them back together. I let out a much needed yell that echoed all through the area and collapsed against a nearby blood soaked wagon. Tears were still flowing down my face and I made no motion to stop them.

I tried everything I could to wake myself up in a vane attempt to convince me that I was still in fact dreaming. I bit my arm, pinched my skin, punched myself in the stomach, slapped myself. Nothing was working and I only panicked even more. Finally, a twisted idea rose up in my mind. I pulled one of my daggers out from my coat and held it to my neck just in time for it to start raining.

This was the last idea I had. That maybe if I died I would somehow wake up back home as my old self. I never got any farther than the thought however as I caught glimpse of the young girl who had taken refuge in one of the few remaining shacks a dozen or so away. The look she had on her face, I'm not even sure my own could compete with it. I squinted my eyes when I saw the outline of a few things beside her. Two adults, more than likely her parents, and a smaller body almost the exact same height as her. I looked bad down at the dagger and after an inward struggle, put it away. It was harder getting up than I thought it would be but I finally did so. I walked slowly over to the girl who didn't even seem to register my presence until I was right beside her. She was crying too and I was half afraid that seeing me would only cause her to do so even more but she just looked up to me with the saddest, most wanting, face I've ever seen before hugging me. I really didn't have any choice but to do the same despite the blood I was covered in. The rain intensified outside effectively drowning out any other noises that would've occurred as well as finally ending the fire. Around that same time, she released me and looked up trying her best wipe the tears away. I did the same while trying to put on a comforting smile.

"I'm sorry." I said to her. She looked back to her family and then back to me her sadness never fading and even a little fear sneaking in.

"Can…..Can you stay with me?" She asked.

Now I don't know about you, but I doubt anyone with a heart could've refused her. I nodded and knew I had to get her away from this place. So I took my trench coat off and placed it on her. I then motioned for her to climb on my back, moving Jade to my front, and after a minute or two, she complied. The rain was coming down with force now, slamming against the ground and corpses with a disturbing thud. So I was instantly soaked on my tenth step from the shack. Luckily giving her coat was the smart move. Not only was she dry but she must've been more tired than she let on because she was out like a light. As I stepped out what remained of the front gate, I gave one last look to the pile of corpses and silently gave a short prayer for them.

"Fly." I said far more depressed than I when I had first said it hours earlier. I shot out into the now grey sky and began looking around for a hopefully safe village. The rain was much more powerful up here and coupled with the wind blasting all around me I wondered if a hurrican had made land fall. Nevertheless, I continued my flight through storm.

More time passed, whether it was hours or minutes I didn't know or care but I was really starting to get tired. Luckily, I think I finally got ahead of the storm because the rain stopped. Not long after, the clouds disappeared as well and I finally got a glimpse of the sun. It had lost a lot of its light and was currently descending across the mountains. It was probably another great landscape picture but such things were far from my mind now. I stopped dashing forward, and scanned the surrounding area below me. It was pretty barren save for a lone building that sat right at a crossroads. I descended quickly nearly slipping as my feet hit the ground before walking towards the front door. I spotted a few horses, standing outside in the stable and silently pleaded for no soldiers to be inside it. I stepped up towards the door and turned my ear towards it. I didn't hear much just some singing and the sound of maybe a few laughs. I wondered if maybe I should probably get back into the air but I was really getting tired so I decided to take my chances. I think I kicked the door a little too hard because I heard several gasps from behind the door. A moment later, the door cracked open and woman's wary eyes peered through it.

"What do you want?"

"Help." I replied simply, letting my my own weariness seep through my voice, I shifted my body so she could get a glimpse of the girl I was carrying. Her eyes shot open and she practically ripped the door off it's handles beckoning me to come in.

"Troy, Maurice! Get over here." She said as I stumbled inside. Two men appeared in my line of sight, both of them pretty fit and each standing a few inches taller than I did.

"What is it Lyra?" One of them asked before looking at me.

"It's Kyla." The woman named Lyra replied frantic as she grabbed a staff and beckoned me to follow her into a room. "I need you two to guard the door in case they were followed." The two men nodded and immediately moved past me and out the way I came it. As for me I followed Lyra through another door and deposited the girl on my back onto a small bed. Ther room itself was a modest one, really just having a bed and a chair stashed over in the corner. As the woman named Lyra proceeded to check on the girl, I made my over towards the wooden chair. And after collapsing into it, dozed off.

* * *

A/N: **Well there ya go. I hope you enjoyed this little continuation and hope to hear from you about it. Talk about a dark turn, but as you know, Overlord's world wasn't really a nice one to live in. Oh and don't worry. The people of Nazarick with appear sooner rather than later.**

 **See ya later**


	3. Start Learning

It felt like I got maybe ten minutes of sleep before a voice awoke me.

"Hey bloodboy, Get up." A masculine voice ordered with a light tap on the head. I groaned and blinked a few times not really knowing what to do until the memories of yesterday came flooding back. I looked down to my clothes and realized where the man had gotten the name from. You'd think I would've thrown up but for one reason or another, I didn't. Maybe I was getting use to the fact that they deserved what they got but it still unnerved me that I didn't have a violent reaction to the rather ludicrous amount of dried blood on my clothes. And considering I had flown through a rain storm earlier, I wondered how much I had been covered in before. I then realized I was being watched and I turned to see a man staring at me. It don't think it was meant to be malicious but it still unnerved me.

"Yeah?" I asked rubbing my eyes.

"Lyra wants to talk to you." The man said leaving the room. I sighed and picked myself up from the surprisingly comfortable chair and made my way out of the room. Before that however, I looked over to see the girl from the village wrapped up in about three different blankets and sleeping in the same bed I had seen her put on.

Seeing the woman again, I realized she was actually fairly good looking. Maybe mid to late thirties and garbed in what looked like a slightly different colored version of the tavern clothes from YGGDRASIL which consisted of a white top, and green pants. Couple that with almost blood red hair, emerald like eyes, and a rather exceptional chest, and I wouldn't put it past you to say she was a welcomed sight after yesterday.

"Sleep well kid?" She asked, sitting down at an empty table.

"Not really." I replied honestly. I looked over to the table and saw a pair of tankards sitting on top. I didn't usually drink back at home. But not too long ago I had killed maybe a dozen people so I was definitely going to have one now. I sat down opposite of her and immediately had a drink. Whatever the hell it was, it was strong, burning my throat as I gulped it down. That didn't matter to me though cause soon I had finished and placed the now empty tankard back on the table. Lyra seemed slightly impressed and grew a slight smile.

"I didn't take you for a heavy drinker."

"I'm not usually." I replied staving off a pretty nasty after taste. "How is she?"

"There wasn't a lot of physical damage thankfully but I'm worried about what she might've been through mentally. Where's her family?" Lyra asked. I looked at her trying to convey what I had seen without having to say a word. She seemed to get it and a look of sadness spread across her face. Not long after she gulped down her own drink.

"Damn it…!" She growled trying to block some tears by slamming her tankard on the table shaking violently. "H…How?" She asked.

"They were…They were murdered." I said really hoping I would get a refill."Her mother, father, sister, and every other person in the village."

My prayers were answered when she pulled out a bottle from under the table and poured a second drink into each of our tankards. Her expression didn't change but her voice seemed to grow angrier when I told her.

"Who?" She asked taking another drink.

"I…..I don't know." I replied trying to explain. " Some knights I guess. They called it a damn holy calling." I ended the last part with no small amount anger. If I compiled a list of things that I hated more than anything else, People who committed atrocities in the name of higher powers would definitely be near the top.

Her eyes widened at my wording and her face went red with rage.

"The fucking Theocracy." She growled with even more anger than before. " Should've known."

"Theocracy?" I asked. She didn't reply initially, her face shifting back and forth from anger and grief. After maybe a minute or two she responded.

"It's a country to the south of us claiming to be humanity's natural born leaders meant to rule the world. I didn't want to pay attention to them for a while. But after this and Carne Vilage….." Her voice trailed off before her gaze returned to me with a new found interest. "How did you survive?"

I blinked at the question, thinking it was rather obvious. "I killed them." I replied with a lot less effort than I thought would be required. " She was the only survivor by the time I got there."

She raised an eyebrow. "A kid like you?" She asked skeptically taking another drink

"That so hard to believe?" I asked back mimicking her action. "And you do realize, I'm twenty two right?"

She laughed as she finished. "If you're younger than I am, I get to call you kid. Kid." She replied putting her again empty tankard back on the table.

I smiled and decided to use some of my old charm. "Well, judging by your looks, you can't be that much older than me." I replied. She got a good laugh out of that.

"Smooth kid." She replied reaching over and grabbing my own drink. Probably for the best seeing as how I didn't know how well I could hold my liquor. "You still haven't answered my question though."

"Yes I did." I replied, before repeating. " I. Killed. Them." Emphasizing each word. She looked at me probably trying to see a giveaway proving that I was a liar. When she didn't find one, her look changed from humor to worry.

"You're serious."

"Really?" I asked back, annoyed. "News to me."

Her worried gaze shifted to my still bloody clothes. "I thought for sure the blood on your shirt was the other villagers but now….. How many of them were there?" She asked.

"Somewhere between twelve and twenty maybe." I replied trying to count them

"Any of them mages?" She asked.

I shook my head. "I don't think so. It looked like they were all swordsmen." I replied just realizing that there probably a whole mage population in this world.

She nodded, seemingly finding that a little more believable. "I had heard that the group from Carne village had sent out some of their men as scouting parties. Guess I know what happened to them." She sighed, looking over to my rapiers that rested a few feet away. "I guess those swords were more than just for show huh?"

I gave a swift nod. "Yeah. Don't suppose I can have them back?" I asked, trying not to sound rude or pushy. "Along with my knives."

She nodded and gave another smile. " Don't worry, your knives are behind the counter." She pointed to a nearby shelf of various drinks. "Along with your cloak."

I was surprised with how honest she seemed. "Thanks." I smiled. "Ms...?

"Name's Lyra Pembrook." She said extending her hand. "You?"

I thought briefly about giving my real name but I did always like Haon better so I decided not to break character.

"Haon. Haon the Handsome." I replied shaking her hand.

She chuckled at the add on. "Now that is a nickname."

I returned the gesture before chuckling myself. "Too on the nose?"

She shook her head. "No. I like it." She said surprisingly genuine. "The world could use more heroes with names like that who don't turn out to be assholes."

That certainly boosted my ego. So I decided to give a theatrical bow. " In that case, Haon the Handsome, at your service madam."

"Ok. Now you're pushing it. I'm sure as hell no madam." She replied stifling a laugh. I smiled towards her before remembering the girl back in the other room.

"What was her name? Kyla?" I asked half remembering what she had said last night.

"Yeah….." Lyra said also turning towards the room. "Kyla Pembrook, she's my niece."

"Oh…" I said now really feeling for the woman. "I'm sorry."

"I told them…I fucking told them over and over to move….." She said once again sounding like she was fighting back the urge to cry. "Stupid."

"You're sure no one else survived?" She asked back to me. I wanted to lie. I wanted to tell her I saw several others escape into from the village but I couldn't. I shook my head fearing what I might say. Her face cracked for a split second with a breath letting a tear to two form around her eyes before wiping them away. Once she regained her composure, she turned her gaze back to me.

"I uh….Thank you." She said once again calmed.

"I just wish I could've done more." I replied fighting back the urge to grieve with her.

"Will she be safe here?" I asked wondering if this Theocracy would somehow find it's way here.

"Definitely." She replied. "Harex may have been on the border but my inn's is firmly on Re-Estize land. Coming this far with an organized army would be proclaiming outright war. And anything less than that, Maurice, Troy and I can handle." She said gesturing over to the staff I remembered her using last night making it obvious she was a mage. I also took in every word about geography.

"Re-Estize." I said repeatedly in my head. It sounded strange to me but then I remembered the circumstances that I was in and figure did I really count complain. "In that case, I don't think I should impose." I said moving over to my rapiers.

She stood up quickly at my action. "Are you kidding me? You saved Kyla's life." She reminded me with crossed arms. "As far as I'm concerned you live here now."

I was rather surprised by the generosity so much so that I thought I heard her wrong. "What?"

"Did I stutter?" She asked back. " I've got plenty of room here and there's always extra work to do. Plus with so many villages being attacked….."

"There's more out there?" I interrupted.

She looked like she regretted what she said but continued. "Harex wasn't the only village to get attacked by the Slane Theocracy. Carne was attacked a little over a week ago. I heard that someone managed to drive them off but….I can't say if it's been permanent or not. A few others closer to the border. It's a dangerous time."

"And nobody's trying to stop these guys?!" I practically yelled. She gave me a look like I was naïve for asking that.

"Re-Estize isn't really concerned the the Theocracy when it has it's hands full with Bahruth Empire. Even if it means the loss of a border village here and there." She said looking down and tightening her fist like she was disgusted with saying it. I myself really wasn't that much better off.

"So that's it, there isn't going to be any response?!" I asked standing up. She shook her head in a doubtful move which only served to piss me off even more. Someone had to make them pay for doing that. Something like that should never be a sight that people get used to. That's when something took over my voice, and I wondered if my character was actually speaking for me. "Fine. I'll do it myself." I said aloud moving towards the counter. She didn't seem to believe me at first until she heard the sound of me gathering my things.

She followed me over with a worried look. "Hold on a sec? How exactly do you plan on doing that? The Theocracy is a whole country with hundreds of thousands of soldiers and mages."

"So I'll get help." I replied still determined even though my mind was sort of worried by the number she just gave. "The person near Carne, think he/she is still there?" I asked, thinking such a person would hopefully have a better idea with what I would be dealing with.

She looked uncertain. "I can't say for sure. Like I said I haven't heard anything." Lyra said as I slipped my coat back on. "But can we please focus back on the fact that you think you can take down a whole nation?"

"They weren't just killed Lyra!" I yelled. The images of burning corpses and dead children coming back to my head. "They were…" I stopped for a second, inwardly debating on whether to actually tell her what I saw. For reasons I'm still not sure of now, I decided I would.

"The people of Harex. Your family. They were taken from their homes, slaughtered and stacked atop each other right in the village center before being set on fire. And were going to do the same to Kyla." I said more in angry than sad. She looked away from me when I finished and when she didn't respond, I continued.

"Look, I'm probably in over my head here, but if I can help stop it, then I think I should try." I said. Despite my confidant words though, my mind was in a far more chaotic state of my mind. When in the hell would I ever actually say that?! Not two days ago, I was working as a waiter, and yet here I am now saying I'm going to try and take down an entire country. None of that made any sense! Before I could even think about retracting that statement, however, she replied.

"If your serious about this, then my guess is that the people who saved Carne village must've been part of the Adventurer's Guild. But I wouldn't make any bets for help unless you have money." She said.

"Right." I said making my way towards the exit. Before I even took my first step outside however, I needed to know exactly where the hell I was going. "Uh…. Don't suppose you have a map and a compass on you?" I asked. She laughed and made her way over to pantry. After shuffling around some stuff she then came back to me and handed me a rolled up piece of parchment and a compass.

"Here. This will get you where your going but It's going to take you a while to get to Carne and even longer to get to the Guild."

"I'll figure it out." I replied, inwardly thinking whatever deity I could for the necklace I still had on. Those thanks quickly became curses when she pulled her arm before I could take them.

"Whoa. Whoa. Hold your horses there kid. I need to see something first."

"Which is?" I asked crossing my arms in a show of annoyance.

"I need to know I'm not letting some kid with death wish just up and leave my house." She said before calling out to the other occupants.. "Troy, you watch Kyla. Maurice, you with me." One of the men nodded while the other quickly stepped up from the table and followed us out through the door. It was probably somwhere between dawn and noon. The storm I flew through had probably followed me here hours later splashing everything in sight with water. When we arrived at a nearby small forest, she turned towards me. "All right, here's the deal. Maurice here, is one of the best fighters I know." If you can beat him, I'll know your serious. If not, you play it smart and just stay here." She said with a smile.

I looked at the man before me and did admittedly feel intimidated. The guy was jacked, tall, and had a strange hair style that reached down through his sideburns and connected to a thick bushy beard. He grunted in agreement with Lyra and immediately put his hands up in a fighting position. For some reason, I remember being excited at the idea of just a plain old brawl so I put tossed my swords to the side and raised my own fists. Neither of us moved for maybe ten seconds before Maurice lunged straight towards me. I sidestepped the jab and continued to when it turned into an all out assault. I don't have any doubt that Maurice was incredibly fast for a man his size nor do I doubt that if I was just some regular kid from this world, that I would've been knocked on my ass by the first punch. The thing was though, I wasn't just some normal kid here. Every punch he threw, I could see coming. Every kick he launched at me, I could dodge. I think he knew this too because not too long into our fight, his previously calm demeanor shifted to a more interested one. His punches became a little harder to dodge and his speed increased a little bit, probably trying to throw me off. Unfortunately, it also presented an opening.

I ducked under his latest jab and threw a strikes into his stomach at my regular strength. He gasped as the air left his body and flew back a few feet. Luckily he was quite nimble so he flipped his body around to land on his feet as he hit three ground. The face me made, I still think about it when I'm feeling down. I laughed and rather cockily, gestured for him come back for more. He wasted no time accepting the offer and, in a sight that I would become all too familiar with, engulfed himself in magic energy. He then shot over to me with renewed purpose and speed as our battle continued. It was interesting, this was a different type of magic than what I remembered YGGDRASIL having. And I also made a note of asking either him or Lyra about it when we were done. After all, if I was going to survive here, I needed to start learning.

* * *

 **A/N: Well I think I'll call it a chapter there. Hope you guys enjoyed but whether you did or didn't let me know your thoughts**

 **See ya later**.


	4. Did I offend you?

I ended up staying there a few days longer than I intended but, I credit those days with me really coming to terms with what and where I was now. This wasn't a dream. I had somehow physically and mentally been teleported here but with all the skills of my gaming character.

None of it made any sense. Absolutely none of it, but I knew I had to accept it whether it made sense or not. When I finally did so, it allowed an interesting thought to enter my brain. What if I wasn't the only one? I mean after all, out of the doubtless hundreds of thousands of players who had signed into YGGDRASIL at one time or another, I couldn't be the lone idiot who didn't exit in time, right? Of course, then that raised the question of how I was going to find any of them. Outside my little group, I didn't really have a knack for recognizing faces so that was going to be fun. Then there was that whole other matter of actually going after the Theocracy. I for damn sure wasn't going to forget what they did to those people, and in fully intended to avenge them. But how exactly was I going to do that?

So there was no shortage of things to do in this new world at least, and I knew that I had Lyra and her friends to thank for that.

Lyra was surprisingly well in tuned with what was happening all over world at least on a geo-political level so I learned borders, capital cities, a few prominent figures here and there, the whole nine yards. I also came to the estimation that my skills had almost completely carried over from Yggdrasil into this world. The only real differences being that it all felt…For lack of a better term, real. I could feel my muscles tighten and loosen with each swipe I took. I could feel the gust of a powerful punch hit me as I dodge it. And the feeling of actually seeing magic being used like Lyra and her associates would use it really made me wish I had chosen a mage archetype. Then again, I guess I had slight advantages over them.

"Had enough Maurice?" I asked slightly tightening my grip under his neck. After a few more bated breaths, he wavered and I released him. So, it was safe to say my strength was probably higher than it was in YGGDRASIL and while I had no idea how that happened, I was really glad it did. As he caught his breaths, I heard the sound and smell of what I thought was food. I looked out across the field and saw Troy exit the cabin with his arm raised over his head gesturing us over. I extended my hand down to Maurice who took it almost immediately. He gave me a friendly punch on the shoulder before taking off. You never would've pegged him acting like that if you looked at him but the guy was actually a kind soul who didn't actually enjoy fighting. But when the time came, you'd be wise to move out of the way. As you can probably guess, he didn't talk much, leaving most of that to his brother.

"Nice move bloodboy," Troy said as I walked back inside and giving me a powerful pat on the back. The guy was probably just as strong as his brother and I got the distinct impression that he didn't have Maurice's disdain for fighting. It really made me wonder why I never trained with him but I never got the chance to ask. I was heading out that day. "You sure you don't want to stay?"

"It's not a matter of want." I replied speaking honestly though saddened. "I need to figure out just what the hell is going on in the world and start building up a reputation." We had reasoned a night or two ago that the best way to start getting a read on the Theocracy as well as getting my name out into the world was to start accomplishing some stuff in it. Slay some monsters, help some people, the usually things you would do in a place like Re-Estize. I also decided it would be best not say that I was dragged here from another world and risk being tossed out on my ass.

"Right. I often forget youngsters don't have patience." Lyra said rubbing her forehead as the sounds of murmured breathing continued from a room at the far end of the cabin.

I looked over to the still unconscious girl still deeply sad by what she had witnessed. "Do you think she'll be ok?"

"I'm not so sure now." She asked sharing my worry. "I thought she would've woken up by now but…I don't know. I'll have to bring a healer by here soon."

"I hope she gets better." I said patting her on the shoulder. "And I'm sorry."

"Thanks, Haon." She said taking a deep breath. "You don't have to do any of this you know?"

"Yeah, well you didn't have to let me stay here. Let's call it even." I said extending my hand to her. She accepted the gesture and not a minute later I wrapped up a warm stew, put it in my cloak and made my way out the door.

"It's going to take a while to get to Carne just so you know." She explained. "And even longer to get to the Adventurer's Guild."

"I'll figure it out." I replied, inwardly thanking whatever deity I could for the necklace I still had on.

"Just so you know, if you ever do wise up, you'll always have a place here." She said with a firm pat on the back.

"Thanks, Lyra." I said as she followed me out. " Take care of Kyla."

"You don't need to tell me that." She said lightly punching my arm as I looked towards the sky. It was probably getting close to dawn considering that the black sky was slowly being shaded blue and the sky was clear of any ominous looking clouds so I had to be thankful for that.

In hindsight, I probably shouldn't have just leapt into the air right there in front of her. But I didn't really think to much of it at the time. Soon enough I was maybe a hundred feet in the air again and unfolded the map in one hand and held my compass in the other. It looked like Carne was east of me so I dashed off towards it.

What I had seen yesterday relentlessly bounced around my mind to the point where I didn't even want to think about the fact that I was now in a fantasy world or that flying, an action that I don't think I'll ever be able to not love, seemed to become a depressing act. Even though I had a name for these bastards now, I had no concept of the social structure of the group or country. I needed the names of lords, captains, and especially those who had sanctioned the attack at Harex. Maybe the person who saved Carne had them or maybe not but I was determined to at least find and ask about them first.

I dropped back down just outside Carne right when he sun had reached its high point in the sky tucking my necklace under my shirt and was surprised by what I saw. It didn't look like an attack had happened here at all. People seemed to be going about their daily business. No one looked angry or afraid, instead they just looked content. Maybe even a little happy. I stepped into the village and immediately I felt like something was off. Like there was a deep magical presence here. Similar to how I'd feel back in YGGDRASIL, whenever I'd' walk into a village controlled by another player.

Here I allowed myself to get a little too hopeful and once again tried to pull up my log out again nothing showed up. Still though, I wasn't about to brush off this feeling. And I began to ask around for information about any mages here. I got a few mentions about a man in a mask who reportedly went by Ainz and I eventually found out he was the one who had saved this place. Unfortunately for me, he had disappeared not too long after he had helped them.

Before I could actually mope about having missed him, I heard the sounds of some sounded like nails hitting wood. I looked outwards from the village and saw a familiar species of goblin working on what would become an outer wall. Next to them, I saw a woman who looked like she was the one giving the orders. She was blonde with her hair braided and hazel eyes. She was probably some years younger than me.

" Hey." I called out towards her.

She looked over to me, confused about why I wanted to talk to her. "Yes?" She asked.

"Maybe you can help me out. Are you a mage?" I asked noticing a horn she had strapped to her side that rumbled with magic.

"Oh." She said with a chuckle noticing the look I was giving it. "No, this was a gift from Lord Ainz."

"So Ainz is a he." I said aloud. She nodded as a certain gleam appeared in her eye.

"Yes. He appeared out of nowhere and saved me, my sister, Sir Gazef, and the whole village."

"Sounds like quite a hero." I said sounding a little too hopeful for my own good "So would you know where he is?" I asked.

She shook her had and there went my hope. "I'm sorry. I do not." She replied.

I fought down the urge to groan and instead settled for a sigh. "Great. And I take it you haven't seen him since." I said predicting rather accurately as she nodded in agreement.

"Ok. Adventurer's Guild it is." I said.

You'll notice that I tend to do all my thinking out loud. It's a habit I still struggle to kick as I've gotten older but in this particular instance I'm glad I couldn't keep my trap shut.

"Adventurer's Guild?" She asked. "Nferia left with a few of them a day or two ago."

"Nice. Thanks…" I realized I didn't know her name

"Enri." She said with an introductory tone.

"Enri." I said repeating it and bowing. "Well lady Enri, I must bid you farewell." I nearly activated flight again but luckily I realized that until I ultimately figure out what in the hell I was going to do next, it was probably best to keep a low profile. So I took off onto the road she had gestured to, eager to catch up.

I made a note to myself that I could run a lot further before I needed to stop and breath than I could in YGGDRASIL and most definitely the real world. And maybe it was just me but I felt like I was running faster than before too. Not by so much that it would be obvious but definitely higher than I think was the average for warriors here. Once again, I didn't really think much of it at the time, other than it was pretty cool and continued my rush on the trail of the adventurer's.

As time passed, and day turned to night, It finally dawned on me that I was taking all of this a little too well. For all I knew, I was trapped in a medieval world populated with dangerous assholes and for one reason or another I wasn't worried about getting killed. For the first time in my life, I felt invincible. Like maybe I didn't have to worry about being killed.

I did my best to dash that feeling though almost as quickly as it had dawned on me. I had learned from both life and fiction that there's always someone stronger out there. Strangely enough not too long after I said that, I spotted a small fire off in the distance, a fire that illuminated maybe six figures sitting around it near a large boulder. As I got closer, stepping lightly through the grass and trees I saw that the boulder was actually breathing. I squinted try to get a better picture of the beast before me and the way it shifted, it looked like it had fur. I debated on whether it would be a good idea to go ahead and draw my swords before hearing a voice call out.

"You there." A deep, voice said with a strangely annoyed tone. "If you intend to do us harm, It would be smarter to just go ahead and turn around."

Well one of them was good. I didn't think I was too loud on my way over here. I came out of my hiding to walked towards them. All of them were on their guard now, but at the very least I could see them clearly now. Four of them we're bunched together in a strange mismatch of colored tunics and cloaks which made me assume they were a band onto themselves. They looked like a strange combo of wary curious warriors. Then there was the two opposite of them. One a fairly tall knight clad in an entire suit dark armor, a red cape, and two massive black blades strapped to his back. Next to him was a rather pale looking woman who opposite of the group beside her, looked like I was nothing more than an annoyance, if that.

Not really knowing how to respond, I just sort of waved awkwardly at them. "Hi." I said inwardly smacking myself at my awkwardness. "I uh, don't suppose you would mind if I enjoyed the fire?" I asked raising my hands into the air away from my rapiers. The group on the right seemed to have in dialogue onto themselves while the pair continued glaring at me. It went on for so long that I started to grit my teeth. "Look, If I was here to attack you guys, don't you think I would've done so by now?"

"I don't know. Would you have?" The knight asked back revealing himself to be the same voice who had called out to me. "You seem to be pretty well armed."

I chuckled as if that was sarcasm "Yeah. Well, I think these toothpicks wouldn't exactly hold up against those bastards on you back." I said gesturing to the frankly obscenely large swords and trying to be bring a little humor to the situation. It seemed to work for the other group who steadily dropped their guards as one of them stepped forward to meet me.

"Sorry if we're a bit on edge, stranger comes wandering through the woods hidden until he's spotted. What did you expect?" He said extended his hand. "Name's Peter." I smiled at the gesture glad to meet some more reasonable people.

"Haon." I replied shaking the hand with my own.

"Glad to meet you Haon. And yeah, sure, plenty of room around the fire." Peter replied. Motioning me to follow. I ended up sitting down opposite of the knight and what I had guessed was his female bodyguard. Who seemed to be deep in their own conversation behind in front of an almost furry looking boulder.

Ignoring that, I looked to the other squad. "So, all of you a team or something."

"Just us four." Peter said pointing at his group. "That's Ninya, Lukeluther, and Dyne." He said gesturing from the youngest to the oldest. I bowed my head in greeting as each waved at me.

"Glad to meet you." I said taking a seat in the dirt with the rest of them. "So what's their story."

"Oh that's Momon and Nabe. We decided to have a joint adventure to guard an alchemist." Peter replied.

"And where's he?" I asked.

"Asleep in the wagon." Peter said pointing to a wagon stored behind them a few feet. "As for Momon himself, it's hard to get a read on the guy. He seems nice enough though. Great warrior too. You guys ever see a guy just man handle ogres like that before?" A choir of no's rang through the group and I looked back over to Momon. He had stopped his conversation with the girl named Nabe was focused firmly on my own gaze. We just kept our glare on each other for maybe a minute before I asked another question.

"And the girl? Nabe?" I asked.

"She's quieter than Momon is but I think she's just as powerful." Ninya said. "She's a mage."

"Ah." I said nodding before my own stomach grumbled. I decided now was a good time to eat some of that stew Lyra had given me but I was interrupted.

"And don't get any ideas. I've got dibs on her." The blonde archer named Lukeluther said eyeing me.

"Hey. Relax man." I chuckled, taking a bite of my food. " I don't think she likes me anyway." I said noticing the glare that I was currently receiving.

"Hey don't take it personally." The older man named Dyne replied. "I don't think she likes any of us anyway."

That seemed rather odd. "Any particular reason? I asked.

Peter shook his head. "Not that we know of but I can't know if we offended her or not." Peter sighed.

Well after, that I did what any subtle mastermind would do.

"Hey Nabe!" I called out over to her and Momon. She looked disdainfully over towards me so I continued. "These guys didn't offend you did they?" I asked. She looked over to Momon before replying.

"No."

"Did I?" I asked back.

She once again replied with "No" so I continued.

"Great." I smiled. "So exactly why the hell are you looking at me like I shit in your scrambled eggs?"

I think I single handedly destroyed the calm atmosphere that surrounded the camp with that comment. Peter and his group instantly grew worried looks while Nabe's gaze narrowed in my direction. Here, oddly enough Momon spoke with a chuckle in his voice.

"Well, you certainly don't beat around the bush."

I shook my head. " I just don't like it when people give me looks like that. A look that's she still making by the way." I pointed out as I met her gaze with my own. Nabe then looked over to Momon once again and after I might've guessed was a telepathic conversation she turned back to me with a small smile.

"Well then, perhaps I could allow you and Nabe to have a little duel over this." Momon said shifting his weight to look over to an empty field nearby. "There."

"Fine with me." I said standing up and really growing angry with this lady and the glare I was getting from her." She did the same and immediately walked over to the field. I followed suit and soon enough we were standing opposite from each other with a space of maybe fifteen feet in between us.

"Nabe, I don't think I need to tell you not to kill him but all the same. Don't." Momon said. I swear a look of disappointment appeared on her face for maybe a second before she swiftly nodded.

Wow, this woman was a bitch. I decided to keep that last little thought to myself as I drew my rapiers. Judging by her lack of weaponry I guessed that she must've been a mage. Which was quickly proven right when a streak of lightning shot from her hand and straight towards my head. Narrowly I sidestepped the attack and heard it impact against a tree further away. She had a look so surprise on her face that immediately made me smile as I charged towards her. Her surprise shifted immediately though and quickly and eloquently began to side step my swings. This was good. She still underestimated me. Quickly, I threw a wild swing towards her side which she ducked under I could see electricity gathering in her hand as my arm flew past her head and I smiled.

Before she had a chance to use it I shoved my foot into her stomach sending her back gasping for air. She managed to flip herself back and landed not unlike a cat would before giving me another glare. This time, with a lot more rage behind it..

"What? I was under the impression that this was a duel? Did you just expect me to stand still and let you electrocute me?" I asked smirking a just a little bit. Before she got a chance to recover, I dashed forward and threw two slices at her direction. Two then went to four, four to eight, and before long I lost count in the number of times I weakly tried to hit her and have her dodge each attack.

I think right here's where I knew she was holding back. And since I was doing the same, a prolonged fight did us no god. Her look had shifted yet again from anger, to an almost unreadable one though now it held something akin to curiosity. And that was good enough for me.

"Geez. You can dodge with the best of them can't you." I said stopping my assault. She didn't reply of course so I continued. "Look, I'll make it simple. You explain to me what the hell the look was about and I'll call it a draw." I said sheathing my blades.

"What look?" She asked almost as robotic as you could be.

"Seriously?" I asked. "The one that said "You're a piece of shit who's not fit to be around me or my master."" I said summing up exactly what the meaning behind the look was.

She looked to Momon than back to me. "Exactly why does a look bother you?" She asked.

"Call it a pet peeve." I replied. "Everyone's got em. Like I'm sure if I foolishly attacked your master there, there wouldn't be enough of me left put into a jar."

"You're correct." She said as emotionless as ever though she did grow a slight smile. "It is refreshing though, for one to recognize that fact."

"It doesn't take a genius to see that your holding back. Even if he told you not to kill me." I said walking over to her. I think she thought I was going to attack because she stiffened, so I quickly threw up my hands. "Easy. I just want to shake your hand." I said extending my left towards her.

She looked down at it curiously before looking back to Momon. I'm not sure if he did anything in response but not a moment later she took my hand.

"Good workout Nabe. Maybe we can try this again sometime." I said pulling my hand back.

"For your sake, I hope not." Nabe replied, for the first time since I got here using a polite tone, which was more than enough for me.

"You know you could stand to be not so grim." I said following her back to the camp and the shocked stares of Peter and his friends. "Uh…..Sorry about that." I said, growing rather uncomfortable under there stares.

"That was incredible!" Ninya yelled.

"Wow." Peter said in agreement.

"You wield those swords like a master." Dyne said almost astonished as I sat down back on the ground.

"I think you guys are over exaggerating." I replied. "After all I missed every hit on her."

"Dude. Be honest, were you even trying to hit Nabe?" Lukeluther asked.

"Well, I knew if I hurt your girl I'd find myself with a dozen arrows in my stomach."

"Smartass." Lukeluther replied getting a chuckle.

"I have to agree as well." Momon said a few feet away. "Not many can hold their own against Nabe."

"Like I said I was just lucky." I replied as my stomach rumbled yet again and this time I had enough. I reached in my cloak for a specific pocket and pulled out my wrapped up stew from Lyra's. As I undid the wrappings however, the furry breath boulder which had somehow slipped my mind unfurled itself, and looked over to me.

"Is that a hamster?" I asked almost freezing at the sight.

"Long story." Momon replied with what sounded like a sigh.


	5. Doing a good deed

I can only imagine how we must've looked to say a farmer or passing trader traveling down the same road opposite of us. Here we are a group of seven warriors, a cart with an alchemist, and a giant hamster, who interestingly was known as the Wise King of the Forest. A king so wise, that he could actually talk. An action that I would like to make clear nearly caused me to choke on my food two nights ago.

But despite that, he seemed harmless enough and even a little pitiful considering how meek he seemed.

"And just like that, my master Momon defeated me in single combat." His highness said seemingly proud of his loss. I looked over to Momon who shrugged slightly as if he were embarrassed. I couldn't under stand why. You now own a a giant talking hamster whose also royalty. That's badass.

After my conversation with the Wise King ended I looked back at the group as a whole or rather the Swords of Darkness.

I liked these guys. That was my overall take from spending time with this little group. Peter had a natural charisma around him that made him perfect for leadership as well as being just an all around nice guy. LukeLuther was probably the source of comedy in the group, never taking things to seriously, and facing every problem head on with a cocky smile. He also had a tendency to be a smart ass so I got a long with him pretty well. Dyne having a few more years on him than the others seemed like the group's source of wisdom. Whenever I talked to him I got the image of a guy who sort of fell into the group but nevertheless became a valued participant. Rounding out the group was Ninya, who I could've sworn sounded exactly like a girl the first time she spoke but was quickly told otherwise. He was definitely the kindest of the group but if I had to guess was also the least skilled when it came to combat, which the others made up for with their own skills. All in all, I can honestly say I was glad to meet them as we walked down the road.

"So Haon?" What were you hoping with the Adventurere's Guild?" A voice asked from the cart that we were accompanying. I looked over to the kid looking alchemist named Nfirea. A nice if meek young man who, quite honestly, shouldn't have been able to see with the thick locks of blonde hair coming down in front of his face like that.

"Well I was hoping to find a man named Ainz." I replied. Out of the corner of my eye I swore I could see Nabe stiffen for maybe a millisecond before shifting back to her regular status as she continued her walk.

"Ainz?" Nfirea asked recognizing the name. "Didn't he help Carne when they were attacked."

"That's what I hear." I replied nodding stuffing my hands in the pockets of my cloak. "I'm hoping he'll know more about these Theocracy assholes."

"Theocracy?" Peter asked overhearing the name. "Why would they be at Carne?"

"They were trying to eliminate Gazeff." Momon said. "One of the strongest fighters in the kingdom."

I looked over to the hulking blue knight curiously. "Were you there?" I asked.

He shook his helm. "Unfortunately no. I simply asked the locals about the damage that was caused." They spoke of a wizard named Ainz who helped them and killed the Theocracy soldiers." Momon replied in the same hollow tone he had used since we met.

"Great." I sighed. Well you guys are part of the Adventurere's Guild Right? You heard of him?" I asked towards Peter and his friends."

"Sorry bud. But I never heard of the guy." Lukeluther spoke up.

"Me neither." Ninya said. "He must be new if he's joined up. But if he really did help those people, I like to think he'll help you when you find him." He said with a smile in my direction. I seriously began to wonder if he was indeed a guy before Dyne spoke up next.

"It's interesting though. The Theocracy in Re-Estize trying to kill of of it's strongest warriors." The older mage said stroking his chin in a thinking posture.

"You think they're prepping a full on invasion?" Lukeluther asked.

"It's too early to tell. This could've just been a group of rouges who broke off from the main group." Dyne replied.

"Are there a lot of groups like that?" I asked noticing Momon leaning in slightly to better hear our conversation.

"I don't know really." Dyne sighed. "I don't exactly know much about international politics."

"Stuff like that's way above our pay grade anyway." Peter said with a shrug. "If things do start to get hot, then we'll handle it."

"Ah." I said nodding at their logic. These guys were simple mercenaries after all. It made sense they wouldn't know or really care too much about things like this until it affected them.

"Why did you want to know about them Haon?" Nferria asked.

"Oh….no reason." I replied lying with a smile while sending a small glare towards Nabe who luckily didn't seem to notice. We all fell back into different conversations after that and, eager to talk about something much lighter I looked over to the young alchemist.

"So, that girl in Carne. Enri I think?" I asked as he looked over to me. "She seemed nice."

"Yeah…" He said growing a rather large smile at the mention of her name.

"Pretty cute too." I said. This earned a much different reaction.

"Y-Y-Yes." He said much more nervous than he had before with even a little bit of fear coming through his voice. "Why would you say that?"

I got a decent chuckle from the question as I inwardly pat myself on the back at my guess. "You like her don't you?" I asked towards him. I'm pretty sure his entire face went a red though I could only see below the nose due to the hair.

"I…..I…" He stammered.

"Relax kid." I said reaching up and patting him on the back as he continued to hold the reins of the horses who pulled the carriage. " You don't have anything to fear from me. Just a simple question."

He sighed after a moment or two thought whether it was in frustration or relief, I really couldn't say. "Yeah. I do. A lot actually." He said, his head drooping a little.

"Well, have you told her?" I asked back to the alchemist.

He shifted his head down to his feet. "I've tried, I've tried so many times to but…..I just can't say the words."

I had to hold back a sigh. This kid needed a confidence booster and luckily, I was here. It always started with a little nudge of desperation. "Listen Nferia, you are aware that she's a good looking girl?"

"Yes." His hair flopped as he nodded. "Of course I am."

"Well, do you honestly think that you and I are the only ones who can see that?" I asked. "How long befor esomeone better looking than us stumbles on her in Carne? What's she gonna say if she doesn't have someone already?"

A panicked breath expelled from his lips as he realized I was right.

"Not long right?" I continued. "So everyday you don't tell her, the more time passes for someone else to. But don't make it seem too desperate though, most women didn't take too kindly to the I'll die without you mindset. Just tell her the truth. Don't meander around it. Don't say something like, 'I'll always be there for you, or you can always count on me.' No. Tell her to her face that you like her."

He was quiet for a while as he put his thoughts in order. "B-But what if she doesn't like me?" He asked understandably.

"That's the chance you have to take." I shrugged. "But here's a word of advice that was given to me." I thought about a few times in my life where the answer had been just that. " If you wait around for a girl to say whether she likes you as more than a friend or not, you'll be waiting the rest of your life."

Nfirea pondered my answer for a while before replying with a smile. "I guess your right. Thanks Haon."

"No problem, man." I said waving him off. "Glad to help."

"If I can ask. Who gave you that advice?" Nfirea asked curious.

"My dad." I replied with a smile. "Too much of a smart ass at times but always had enough wisdom to redeem himself." I ended with a nostalgic laugh before remembering something important. " Oh and also be careful of the one liners."

"What?" He asked.

"Lines like the ones Lukeluther uses." I replied. "Remember the one about the food a few nights ago? About cooling her soup in his mouth"

"Oh. Right." Nfirea replied with a light laugh.

"Hey! You talking about me?" An eavesdropping archer asked from a few feet away.

"No. Just your effortless romancing skills." I called back. "How's that working by the way?"

"Screw you man. The women love my words." Lukeluther yelled back.

"I'm sure." I replied sounding as sarcastic as possible as a chorus of laughs went through the group.

A few more hours passed and we finally came within view of what I guessed was our destination, a huge sprawling medieval city that seemed to almost glow in the growing night.

"E-Rantel." I said glimpsing the city for the first time. It definitely was a sight to behold. When we finally made into the city it didn't take long for Momon and Nabe to take their leave.

"We're gonna escort Nfirea back to his lab. You taking the Guardian to be registered?" Peter asked.

"Yes. Nabe and I will meet you back at the lab." Momon said leaping onto the hamster's back.

"Sounds great. Drinks are on me when you get back." Peter replied waving towards the figures who began to disappear into the night. I waved as well and I can't be certain but I thought I saw Nabe give one last look in our direction.

"What about you Haon?" Ninya asked. "You coming with us or going off on your own."

"Well, I've gotta try and find this Ainz guy. So I'll catch up with you later." I said with an annoyed shrug. "Where's your home?" I asked to Nfirea.

"Down that way." He said pointing down a particular road that led deeper into the city. "It's got the name Bareare written on the front of it." He said.

"Nice. I'll meet you there later." I replied waving at them as each they made their way towards his home.

Alone again, though this time in a city, I sighed aloud and just sat down on a small step thinking about where exactly I was going to start my search, or even if should search for him. I mean it looked like Nabe might have an idea but for all I knew she could've just stepped on a rock. And in any case, I still needed to find a job before I started going hungry as well as accomplish a few more million things like finding any others from Yggdrasil. I ran a hand down my face desperately trying to not to sigh again at the enormity of all the the shit that had to be done when I heard a pair of footsteps walk by.

"So? You hear about the catch Zack made?" One man asked.

"No actually. What's he got?" His friend said.

"A beautiful blonde this time. Some high born bitch." The man replied with a low chuckle. "Word is their gonna have a little fun before ransoming her."

"Freaking figures. I'm here in the city when they finally ambush a good one. " His friend replied with a sigh. "Ah well. Let's get to a tavern and see if we can have a little fun of our own."

A high born lady was about to be captured somewhere outside the city. Naturally, the good and broke samaritan inme kicked in and I looked back up to the night sky and saw that the moon was still low in the sky.

"Yeah, I've got time." I said aloud before running off towards the two talking men. "Oh gentlemen. Might I have a word?"

"What the hell do you want?" One asked annoyed at my presence.

"Just some information, namely where that little ambush is happening?" I said cracking my knuckles.

It didn't take much to make them talk surprisingly. They had looked pretty intimidating so I thought that an appropriate use of force was more than warranted. Especially seeing as how these guys were part of a kidnapping ring. So after half a dozen broken bones and two severally bruised egos, I got my information and left them tied up and unconscious outside a popular tavern with a note that read "Kidnappers" on their persons and charged back out of the city towards the direction of where they planned their little surprise.

It turned out this particular group's hideout was a nearby mine that led inside a tall mountain that Lyra had told me about when she described the outskirts of E-Rantel. When I saw a decent gathering of armed men with swords and torches in the distance, I knew this was the place. Thanks to their lights, I got a good approximation of their numbers. Maybe ten or fifteen of them and all surrounding what I correctly guessed was a carriage that held the "beautiful blonde" the men had talked about.

"Well I better stop this before it starts." I said picking up my pace again. When I got within shouting distance though, I froze. I started to hear screams. Not from the woman as I initially feared but from the bandits themselves. One by one they began to fall to the ground dead but the scariest part of the whole ordeal was the gathering of blood that was rising from each of their bodies and over the carriage. When the last bandit fell the ground headless, I dove straight towards a nearby bush hoping I hadn't been spotted. For a while it was quiet before I heard one last scream echo through the area. This one lasted longer than the others and instead of just suddenly stopping it began to fade. Like the poor bastard's voice was being drowned out before finally it disappeared completely.

The silence returned lasting for maybe a minute longer as I heard pretty fast footsteps run around the area, probably searching for survivors. Drowning out those sounds though, I instead focused on some voices I heard from the carriage.

"Oh dear. It looks like we've managed to do nothing but waste our precious time." A young voice said in a strangely uncaring tone. Clearly she was used to killing people and I pegged her as being the one responsible for the blood ball floating over the carriage.

"Yes. It would appear so." An older, gruffer voice said equally as uncaring.

"Lady Shalltear, we've located the nest of these humans. There leader is a man named Brain who reportedly is quite skilled in martial arts." An entirely new voice spoke up sounding almost colder than the either of the others.

"I've heard that name. He's regarded as one of the best fighters in Re-Estize." The gruff voice said.

"This Brain might just prove to be an excellent candidate." The younger voice said with a noticeable giggle at the end of her speaking.

Well my plans for a payday were dashed. So I naturally and moved to run right back where I came only to look over and see a woman standing beside me and looking down with an unsettling smile. She was fairly tall, with almost golden blonde hair, green eyes, and dressed from head to toe in a, frankly revealing maid outfit.

"Uh….Hi?" I said.

"Lady Shalltear, I'm afraid you missed one." The woman said her smile growing even more unsettling. Predicting bad things about to incur. I leapt away from the woman and back onto the road.

"Well now. That's interesting." The young girl, named Shalltear replied looking over to me as I landed unceremoniously back on the road. Dressed in a Victorian Era dress, even with the pale skin she didn't really come across as dangerous until you saw her blood red eyes and two small sharp as knives fangs reach down from her upper jaw. Next to her stood tall brooding man wearing a fancy almost butler like suit eying me with what I could only describe as cold curiosity.

"He seems a little younger than the others were." He said looking over me.

"I'm not with those guys." I said maybe a little too quickly.

"Is that right?" The blonde asked stepping nest to the older man. "Then pray tell, why would a man like yourself be here?" She asked never losing that creepy smile that actually seemed to get bigger the longer you looked at it.

" I heard back in E-Rantel that a high born lady was going to get ambushed so I thought she would need some help." I said looking back over the corpses before continuing. "Clearly, I was wrong."

"Indeed. These men proved much less entertaining than I had hoped." Shalltear said with a noticeably disappointed tone. "Still though. Noble of you to try and come to the rescue of a damsel." She finished turning her gaze back to me and smiling lightly.

"Right." I said, sounding a little more creeped out than I would've preferred. "Well thanks, Ms. Shalltear." I said bowing ever so slightly. " I wouldn't wish to trouble you further so I'll just take my leave and…" I finished backing up maybe a step before two other figures appeared behind me. I looked and saw two more pale figures though taller and much more stoic than Shalltear garbed in simple white clothing.

"Seriously?" I asked.

"Afraid so. We can't afford any witnesses." The older gentleman said not sounding the least bit sorry.

"Right…..This is what I get for trying to do a good deed." I said sighing to myself which I think only confused the three near the carriage. I gave one last look to the two behind me before taking a breath.

Their stoic faces disappeared almost instantly when they saw just how fast I was. I twisted around to face them before sending each of them each a powerful kick to the face that launched them back towards several feet away from me. They got over their shock pretty quickly and were back on me in full force. I spun around their initial swipes which I'm sure would do pretty of damage and began to sidestepping each swipe from one and misdirecting from the other taking great care not get hit by either of them.

You're probably asking why the hell I didn't just draw my swords, but at the time I couldn't really tell if the two I was fighting were just unfortunate servants to Shalltear or full on vampires. And on the slight chance it was the former I didn't want to kill them.

We kept our little "dance" on for a few seconds before the pair began to loose energy. I sidestepped on particular strike aimed for my head, before moving in for the finisher. One more strike barely missed my head as I cricked my neck to the side and grabbed the arm of one of the warriors. As accurately as I could I threw a soft jab to a point on the back of her neck. A second later she fell to the ground, out like a light. Her comrade didn't take kindly to that particular attack and made a beeline straight for my neck. Thanks to that, I was forced to be rather unceremonious with my attack on her. Slogging her across the cheek, and sending her crashing into the dirt.

I groaned afterwards, rubbing my fist trying to lighten the slight sting I got from the impact before making sure that she was in fact unconscious. After that, I looked back over to where the carriage to where the trio still stood. Whatever reaction I expected them to have, excitement wasn't one of them.

"Impressive. He defeated them both rather soundly." The old man said.

"Quite. He'll definitely prove useful." Shalltear said.

"A human who can actually fight, this is a treat." The blonde said aloud with the same smirk on her face which I'd had just about enough of.

"You want to go next blondie?" I called over pointing to the maid. "Keep smiling like that and you can join these two here."

"Rather rude to threaten a lady." She said back not lessening her smile in the least.

"Your working with a vampire. I wouldn't exactly call you a lady." I replied. That did it. Her smile dissolved into a look of anger aimed squarely at me.

"Permission to have him?" She asked tightening her hands and shifting ever so slightly.

"Denied." The older man answered. The blonde looked over to him disappointed and he continued. "This is Shalltear's task. Lord Ainz has given us another."

My brain stopped working for several seconds which allowed the three to carry on a small conversation. Why the hell was Ainz employing a vampire? He was supposed to have saved Carne. Been a good guy. I rattled that question around my head for a while before a voice caused me to focus back on the now. I looked over to see the carriage disappearing into the night further down the road, leaving behind only one person.

"Well now. Just what are we going to do with you?" She asked lightly stroking her cheek in a rather unnerving move as she walked towards me. Well I was in full fledged fight now.

"Well I'd offer to buy you a drink, but I don't think I can spare the blood." I said putting my hands back at my sides over the hilts of my blades.

"Ah, you're a confidant one." She said with a glare at my sheathed blades. "It'll be fun to watch it transform to fear."

i"Right back at you. Shally." I said with a wink.

I think that annoyed her as a frown grew across her face and her gaze narrowed. "You should say my name with a bit more respect human?" She practically growled at me.

"What? Would you prefer Fangs? Vampy maybe?" I asked gripping the hilts of my blades and leaning forward as she continued her walk towards me though with a little more force than before. Getting a kick of how annoyed she was getting I gave her a cocky smile. "All right Vampy, let's dance."

And like that, I leapt towards her drawing my swords. She did the same though unarmed and like that, my fight with a Master Vampire began.

* * *

 **A/N: Think I'll call it a chapter here. Hope you guys enjoyed it. I know the timelines of Shalltear beginning her mission and the Swords of Darkness returning might not exactly line up but for the sake of the plot I had them happen on the same night. They didn't seemed that far removed from eachother anyway.**

 **Anyway, if you leave a little review, I'd really appreciate it.**

 **TTFN. Ta Ta For Now.**


	6. This just isn't my night

Describing what followed is interesting. There I was, putting a fair amount of effort into each swing aimed squarely at the vitals of my opponent, and there she was only looking mildly concerned as each strike was blocked by her fingernails….fingernails. No she didn't pull out a sword or knife, or something practical. She just used her fingernails. So that put a couple of things in perspective for me real fast.

Firstly that this lady was good. Really good even. Good eyesight, better hand eye coordination, and of course sharp as shit nails that I would best avoided. Couple that with the fact that she was a vampire who still had a floating ball of blood hovering over her, I knew at almost any moment she could pull a magic spell out of her ass and I'd be toast. So I pegged my best chances to stay alive would be to stay close to her. Now if I could actually hit her, that would be some real progress. Which coincided with the second thing.

Secondly, she was smart. Each swipe she threw in my direction wasn't meant to necessarily kill. She was judging my reaction time as well as the strength of my swords. We continued on with our battle for good amount of time. Neither of us really gaining an upper hand until I made the first mistake. I ducked sidestepped a particularly slow jab and swung my arms towards her neck. My eyes widened however when I saw she didn't look panicked. Her eyes shifted to my arms and quicker than I thought she could be, she lunged straight for my hands. I started to pull back but the weight of my blades were slowing me down giving Shalltear just enough time reach my hands and more than likely remove them. With a grunt I leaped back a several feet from the vampire. She seemed more than a little impressed by the action.

"You continue to impress human. But abandoning your swords may have not been the best strategy." Shalltear said with an intrigued smile as she looked back at my grounded rapiers. With a stomp that I'm more than certain would shatter my bones, my swords were splintered under her boot.

"I liked those." I replied swearing up a storm inwardly. She looked back to me with a satisfied smile.

"I don't see why. Dull, unsharpened. A warrior like yourself could've done a lot better." She said turning back to me.

"Thanks for the compliment Shally." I said double checking myself to make sure I wasn't bleeding. I noticed when she spoke again her cordial tone shifted.

"I'd like to think I've been more than a little respectful to you human. Address me properly." She said getting annoyed once again at the name.

"Fine. Only if you stop calling me human." I replied. She seemed to find that funny having herself a little chuckle.

"Why should I care what an ant calls himself? He still gets crushed in the end." She reasoned.

"Maybe because I'm not a fucking ant." I replied getting annoyed myself. Her smile faded at my words.

"Very well. I'll humor you human. Who are you?" She asked.

"Name's Haon. Haon the Handsome." I replied smirking at her and hoping my teeth sparkled in the moonlight. She didn't seem that impressed but she did have a little laugh at the name. "And you?" I asked.

"You stand before Shalltear Bloodfallen." She said giving a little curtsy bow. "Now then Haon, where shall we go from here?"

"You took my swords." I said more angry than I should've been. She was right. Those blades weren't exactly high quality. And yet, the sight of them laying broken beside her infuriated me. I had to stay calm though. Another mistake like that and I'll be broken at her feet. " Guess now I have to give it my all." I replied sliding my hands up the sleeves my Cloak and grabbing two smaller hilts.

I was bullshitting of course. I needed to get the hell out of here.

"Intriguing." She said growing another smile. "Let's see it then."

"No problem." I said leaning forward. I looked down my neck and saw I still had my favorite amulet. Okay. I might just make it out of this.

"Fly." I whispered under the guise of taking a breath.I charged forwards at my top speed which doubled as the wind propelled me forwards. Shalltear, surprised by the uptick of speed through up her arms to block my charge. My daggers missed their mark but I managed to get more than a few fingernails chipped in the process as I flipped over her and rose maybe fifteen feet into the air. She looked down at her hands then back up to me anger flashing in her eyes.

"You ruined my nails….." She said in a hushed angry tone.

"I gave you a manicure. Come find me if you ever want the special." I replied before hightailing it further into the sky.

I'm sorry. Were you expecting me to continue the fight? Need I remind you she was just using her fingernails? Now that those were gone, god only knows what she was going to use on me. Nope. I had no intention of sticking around and seeing what she had offer. Of course then I look behind me and see that she's right there and gaining… I don't know why I try.

I immediately reversed my momentum and went charging back towards her. We collided maybe a hundred feet in the air with the moon shining through the clouds and down upon us.

"Figures you could fly." I replied trying with all my strength to force one of my knives into her chest while both my wrists were being held by Shalltear's cold hands.

"You're proving to be a better candidate than I could've imagined." She said growing a smile that somehow complimented the anger that was still present in her voice.

"Candidate for what exactly?" I asked.

"For you to serve the great Tomb of Nazarik of course." She said.

To this day, I have reason to believe that my brain physically snapped in half once she uttered that sentence. The Great Tomb of Nazarik. Ainz….. Ainz Ooal Gown. I wanted to stab myself at my own stupidity. I'm surprised my eyes didn't pop out of my head at the shear shock I went into. Even more so that I managed to work out a sentence.

"Who do you work for?" I asked hesitantly.

"You'll find out soon enough." She said applying a great deal of pressure to my wrists causing me to drop my knives.

If there was ever something to bring you back into a fight. It was that pain. Without really thinking, I slammed my forehead into her face with so much force I thought I concussed myself. Which only compounded my problems when she swiped for my neck, missing by centimeters but snagging the only thing keeping me afloat. I plummeted back to the earth quickly all the while trying to fight through the pain I had just caused myself before I finally managed to regain my wits and twisted my body to avoid landing on my neck. It worked and I instead landed on left arm which then broke as the rest of my body came down on it. Surprisingly nothing else did which considering the height I fell from, I counted myself lucky.

Still though, I let out a loud grunt of pain and looked down at my mangled arm. Yeah, it wasn't pretty. The sight of a broken arm however was nothing compared to what I heard next. A loud rage fueled demonic yell from above that immediately told me I was dead. I had barely stood back up when I felt the air shoot out of me as a powerful fist sent me hurling through and out of the forest and sending me crashing into the dirt at the feet of the mountain. I don't know how my body held up that time nor did I have time to think about it as I was immediately grabbed by the throat and lifted back off the ground. I tried to break free with my good arm but I might as well have been hitting steel her arm was so tough. She then lifted my entire body off the ground and held me there by my throat.

"You, pathetic piece of garbage." She growled in a low angry tone as a trail of blood leaked down from what used to be a pretty nose and onto her dress. Even when I was struggling to breath, I somehow felt a small bit of pride at the sight. I had head butted a master vampire and I broke her nose. How many people can say that after all? She held me there for a while just enjoying the sight of me losing breath before tossing me into the outside of the mountain. All the pain I was feeling, my head, my arm, my wrists, my throat. All of it amplified on my impact against the rock wall. I collapsed once again on the ground as tried to catch my breath and not a second later I saw a pair of Victorian shoes appear in the dirt in front of me. I could almost feel her ruby gaze staring down at me as she spoke.

"That impact should've killed you." She replied sounding strangely like a psychotic combo of annoyance and interest.

"Is that a compliment?" I coughed out not bothering to look up at her.

"Don't insult me human. I'm simply saying you're far too stubborn for your own good." She replied more calm than before but with an obvious edge in her voice. Great, so she forgot my name.

"Wow. You would've loved my ex." I said trying to laugh through the pain I was feeling. This was getting to be far worse than I had thought it would be. I'd really have to go all out if I wanted to have a chance of beating her which was pretty much impossible now that I lost an arm. I had two knifes left and Jade was still strapped to my back but I doubt I could actually really fight with them now. I needed to get away find somewhere to hide. But how was I going to do that?!

The bottom of her boot slammed onto the back of my head pushing my face into the dirt and stopping my thoughts in their tracks.

"I'll grant you this. You were better that I thought you would be." She said with what sounded like receding rage. A lightbulb went off in my head. I could still get out of this alive if I just played it right. I needed to lure her in one last time. Make her think I was done. I let my body go limp. A sight that I'm certain caused a smile.

"Thanks for that." I replied with a mouthful of dirt. "So what happens now?" I asked defeated.

" I was planning to make your body in service of Nazarik, but…" I heard a slight giggle interrupt her which sent a shiver down my spine. "I think you will serve me specifically."

The next thing I felt was the same strong boot, driving through the dirt and smashing my mouth. The impact of which lifted me off the ground and into an up right position where I was then held in place, by a forceful hand. Next she forced me down onto one knee by squeezing my mangled arm until she was looking down towards my bloodied dirt filled face and reluctantly, I smiled a defeated smile.

"So like the other vamps huh?" I said realizing that the kick she gave had actually knocked out two teeth.

"Oh no, you'll be a first. Those two were born vampires." She said caressing my cheek. Great so I definitely should've killed them.

"This just…..isn't my night is it?" I said chuckling and easing my unbroken arm down my bent leg towards a knife strapped to my leg all the while inwardly praying more than I ever have in my life that I could pull this off.

"Nope." She chuckled. Her fangs then suddenly began to extend and I could actually feel magic fluctuate around her as she began to transform into what I could guess was her true vampire state. And that's exactly what I needed. With all of my strength and speed, I tore the dagger from the strap and thrust it straight into her right eye. The resulting scream she let out was deafening but it didn't stop me from taking off towards something that had popped into my sight after she had hurled me towards the mountain. A small mining cave that led inside said mountain. I sped into the darkness as fast as I possibly could all the while praying that I wouldn't trip over something. The moonlight vanished behind me and soon enough I was running blind. After several minutes, of running blindly through a mine all the while smacking my head and face at walls I couldn't see, I stopped to catch my breath. I had got maybe three in before I heard her screeches echo off the walls around me. She had seen me run inside.

Now I was panicking. I'm not ashamed to admit it. I began sprinting away from the screams with renewed force until I finally saw a torch in the distance. I ran towards it and saw that their were several more beyond it lighting up one vast long stretch of tunnel which told me there were probably more people inside this mountain. Maybe the rest of those bastards from earlier. I coughed up some more dirt and blood as I tried to catch my breath again.

"HAOOOOOOON!"

My friend, if you've never heard your name screamed like that. Your name being yelled through the darkness by a voice dripping with so much rage and bloodlust that it was almost overwhelming. Then I would count yourself as one lucky bastard/bitch. One the plus side, she at least remembered my name.

Her wails started again this time much closer to me. I started down the lit up path when right beside one of the torches I saw a small opening inside the cave wall. It was a mining shaft that led deep down further down into the bowls of the mountain in a straight shoot. I couldn't tell how far it went due to the lack of lighting down there but I still considered it a better alternative to what was coming for me in the darkness. With one last look at the lit up hallway and silent prayer that she would follow it instead of me, I leapt into the shoot and plummeted down into the darkness below.

* * *

I honestly I don't know if the impact was what knocked me out or if I was just so tired that I passed out as soon as I hit the ground but the next thing I remember was waking up in complete darkness sore as all hell and my left arm pulsating in pain. I struggled to sit for several minutes but eventually I managed to lay up against the shaft wall. I double checked myself to make sure nothing else was broken and sighed in relief that somehow nothing else was. That sigh also let me realize that my upper lip had swollen up big time probably thanks to that kick from Shally.

"Speaking of which." I thought looking looking up at the shaft. It looked like I lost her. Great, now all I had to due was get the hell out of here. It was around here that I felt something vibrate inside my cloak. Confused, I reached inside and pulled out something I don't know how I managed to forget about. The last item I found in Yggdrasil.

A bright light accompanied the vibrations that echoed out from the watch which did me the huge favor of lighting the up the cave around me. There was a path that led straight forward into more darkness. Noting I would have to study this object more later, I took deep breath and forced myself onto my feet which caused me no small amount of pain I might add and began making my way through the mine. The walk allowed me some personal time to finally sort out the info Shally had told me.

Ainz Oowl Goan. On one hand, I was admittedly happy that there were actually others besides me who got sent here. Maybe one of the guild members would be able to explain why and how the hell it happened. Perhaps even have a way to get back home. I looked back down at my arm as it once again pulsates in pain which led me to the other hand.

Why on gods earth did Ainz Oowl Goan need the blood of bandits? I mean sure none of the guild members were human and back in Yggdrasil they acted the part of bad guys really well. But this wasn't a game anymore. People that should've NPCs could talk, laugh, bleed, eat, cry, and do pretty much anything that real people could do. So why the hell was Nazarik going around and collecting their blood? Take a job to kill them, sure I'd buy that but "making their bodies serve Nazarik"? What the the hell was that supposed to mean?! And why were they worrying about Nazarik anyway? You'd have an easier time turning yourself inside out than getting through that place. I needed some answers. And I figured my best bet would be to try and find Nazarik itself. There, I'd hopefully meet the guild members. Of course, for all I knew, that could've been a new guild member. So that was a whole new complicated mess.

One particular step made a "splat" noise as my foot hit the ground which brought me back. Dirt didn't make that sound so I looked down to see the cause. It was a puddle of blood. My guard was up once again as I looked around, I had unknowingly been walking upwards and a trail of blood had been sliding down the way I came. I followed the trail up through the mine for a few minutes until I finally saw the cause. An entire hallway littered with the broken, eviscerated bodies of what I guessed were the mine's inhabitants. Each with looks of horror on their face if they even had faces left. In a action that I might have frightened me more than Shalltear did, I just walked by them not really caring. They were bandits after all, I reasoned. They more than likely had this coming.

That single thought. The almost complete lack of remorse I felt for them, That's when I knew something was up with me personally. I don't know how, and I don't know why but I realized the longer I stayed here, the more I was taking on the same traits I had given to Haon. And even more worrisome, I was getting used to the sight of carnage. My thoughts were shut down however as I heard a grunt of pain in the darkness. It wasn't monstrous or demonic or femine, like Shally's had been. It seemed more tired and masculine as well as more panicked. Was there actually a survivor?

I continued my walk towards the sound and found the source in the form a curled up man lying against the cave wall, muttering to himself seemingly not noticing me. He was a decently built man. Tall and muscular with brown eyes and unkept dark blue hair that stretched down to his neck. He also looked like hew was beaten half to death with a broken katana by his side and further down I noticed one of his legs was about as mangled as my arm. He finally noticed me and looked towards me hesitantly.

"Hey." I said sounding far too tired for my own good. "Vampire get to you too?"

"The…..monster?" He asked back grunting. I nodded and he returned the action. "How did she even get in here?" He asked.

"Some of your buddies planned an ambush a rich girl. They got a little more than they bargained for." I replied.

"God damn it." He said sighing to himself but keeping his eyes on me. "I had told them to hold off with the ransoms for a while. Freaking figures."

So this guy was the leader. I thought back to Shally's conversation from earlier. "So you're Brain?" I asked.

"In the flesh…." He said grunting again in pain. "Though maybe not for long. And you?"

"Haon." I replied looking over him once again. This guy didn't seem like the typical bandit leader.

"So Haon. Two things. One, how the hell did you survive?" He asked suspicious.

"I got out of sight. Took a tumble down a mining shaft." I replied. "You?"

"Monster charged through maybe ten of my guys ripping them to shreds before tossing me into the wall like a rag doll. I don't think I've ever been this manhandled in my life." He said as his voice saddened. "Shows how good I am."

"Look, we can both criticize our own lack of skill later. How about we get the hell out of here in case she comes back." I said extending my hand down towards him. He didn't take it and instead narrowed his gaze.

"Second thing. Did you lead that thing in here?" He asked.

"Why?" I asked.

"She kept growling something under her breath. It sounded a little like your name." He replied glaring at me hatefully.

"Look, I told you she….." I grunted as pain ripped through my arm once again. "She already knew where you guys were. Even without me she would killed the rest of you like flies." I continued. kneeling down to face him. "And I'm not sure you know this but you weren't running a monastery here. Your guys in the city planning the kidnappings were more interested at the side activities rather than the ransom money."

Brain looked away from me clearly annoyed. I kept the light on him though and soon enough he looked back.

"That wasn't what I wanted." He admitted seemingly genuine. "But fair enough." He conceded. "So why are you helping me then?"

"I'm a bit of a sap. And I believe in second chances." I replied. "You survived her attack so how about you help me get out of here and start over. Preferably not as a kidnaper." I said once again extending my hand. He looked at the hand again and after a moment or two, he took it.

The both of us eventually made our way to an exit that didn't look that far from where I entered the mountain to begin with. It was almost dawn now with the dark sky slowly changing to a bluish tone. He pointed towards a nearby cart that was hidden behind a rock formation with two horses reigned to it. I sighed thankful for the transportation and we made our way over to it. I helped him up first with him having a broken leg and all before I ungracefully pulled myself into the cart as well. As he grabbed the reigns though, I remembered something from earlier that night. Something that was either going to get me killed or really help me plan my next move.

"Hey Brain, can you take us back a ways?" I asked.

"With that thing still out there? Are you out of your mind?!" He yelled.

"Back there, might be a way to beat it." I replied pleading with him. "Come on."

He looked back towards where I gestured and after a moment or two he growled out. "Fine."

Having never actually traveled by cart, I gotta say the damn thing was bumpy as hell. Made me really appreciate my old car back home. But that's besides the point. After several minutes of bouncing up and down on a rocky road, we finally came to the spot.

"So this is where my guys were huh?" Brain said looking over the remaining carcasses of the men who had thought it would be lucrative to kidnap that night.

"Yeah. And see those two over there." I said pointing with my good arm towards the sight of two feminine figures lying on the ground next to each other clad in white dresses.

"I need to talk to them." I said getting down from the cart and groaning as I hit the ground. Dragging these two was going to be a pain in the ass especially with one working arm. But I had to do it. I needed answers and hopefully, these two would help me with them.


	7. Healing Potions and Vampire Brides

As you can probably guess, loading the pair onto the wagon was rather difficult seeing as how I was currently one arm down but nevertheless I persisted in heaving the two of them into wagon one at a time. Somehow that actually didn't wake them up and I wasn't the only one surprised by that.

"Jeez. How hard did you hit these two?" Brain asked at seeing their still limp bodies.

"One of them I hit a nerve on the back of their neck. The other I think I just slugged a little too hard." I replied letting out a breath before pulling myself back into the cart.

"You know I'm not taking these two anywhere unless their restrained." Brane said looking over to the still unconscious bodies. I nodded at the logic and began to think. Odds were rope wasn't going to hold them. No it had to be something stronger than that. Chains maybe? I reached inside my cloak going through a dozen or so pockets that went far deeper then they looked before smiling. My arm ran back out through my sleeve with a visible silver chain wrapped around my hand.

"You keep silver chains on you?" He asked.

"Are you complaining?" I asked back.

"Nope." He replied cracking the reins and starting us back on the road. "Just weird is all."

"Like having the name Brain as a first name?" I replied.

"What's wrong with it?" He asked back, confused.

"You're the brains, you tell me."

How the hell could I resist? The guy's name was Brain was god's sake. "Just tie them up." He muttered back.

"You got a place we can go?" I asked towards the driver while trying to figure out how I was going to do that with one working arm.

"Yeah. A small cabin a few miles from here. Should be safe until we figure out what to do next." Brane replied as the horses picked up some speed. I nodded back while trying to stable myself with my one good arm as once again the other erupted with pain. I really needed to see a healer or some shit for this. I mean, it's not like I had some…. I smacked my head with my good hand as I tore through my cloak pockets yet again before finding one I was looking for. A simple red healing potion. It couldn't really be this easy, could it?

Not really thinking I downed the potion almost instantly. The taste was immediate an surprisingly tangy, similar to orange juice if I had to equate it a drink back home. I looked down towards my arm and immediately I noticed two things. One, my body had started glowing a light green color, and my arm was no longer hurting. Even stranger than those two things though, I could feel my broken bone repair itself. Like two magnets hitting each other. My entire arm was numb so I didn't feel a thing but I heard a distinct popping noise over the sound of the bumpy cart that also seemed to go unnoticed by Brane. When the numbness wore off and the glow vanished, I lifted my arm up and just moved it around for several minutes in disbelief. Then when I finally accepted that my arm fixed itself, I clenched my fist in excitement. I could actually get used to that.

"Hey Brain, how's your leg?" I asked pulling out another potion.

"Still broke, Why?" He asked keeping his focus on the road.

"Have a drink. On me." I replied handing him the crimson glass.

After his initial shock and awe and a little lie about not having any more, we continued on our journey to what I guess you could call his cabin. More of an abandoned sawmill but I really wasn't going to correct him on that. First thing we did was chain the pair to the bottom of a tall steel beam that stretched maybe twenty feet into the sky. Good thing too because not a minute later, one of them began to open her eyes.

"Go get some rest. I'll talk to her." I told Brane not leaving any inclination of wanting an argument with him.

"Gladly." Brain said quickly getting inside building. I stood there quietly as she blinked several times and groaning at what I could guess was a hell of a headache. Which judging by the dried blood on her nose, I might've had something to do with. When her eyes opened fully and she began to grasp the situation she was in, she began to panic. Growling loudly while pulling on the chains to try release herself. Interestingly though, she stopped when she saw her double chained up beside her still unconscious. I actually felt a little bad about it but that was good. Maybe I could actually talk to them.

"Hey." I said, making myself known. Her eyes turned to me almost instantly and any worry that she had in them vanished. Replaced by overwhelming rage. She roared and immediately pulled on her chains violently. Desperately trying to break off and doubtless rip off my head. She continued that spectacle for several minutes before I finally spoke again.

"Your not going break out from that. Those chains are solid silver." I told her. A look of shock appeared in her eyes as she tore her gaze away from me and to the chains themselves. She looked back over to the other vampire again before she returned to me. There was still plenty of anger in her eyes but it had calmed a bit, as she continued to piece together the situation she was in.

"What do you want?" She asked. Her voice surprised me in how cold it was. I shouldn't have been shocked, she was a vampire after all but still, Shally at least sounded like their was some life to her. This one sounded like she had been dead and rotting in the ground for weeks. After I got over that, I spoke once again.

"Answers." I said.

"As do I." She replied. "Where is Lady Shalltear?"

" Somewhere at the bottom of a mountain. I wouldn't worry about her."

"Liar."

"I am not. I'm Haon the Handsome. No the liar." I replied with a smirk. She didn't find that amusing however and I can't say I blame her.

"How did you get away?" She asked. "Lady Shalltear never abandons the hunt."

"She must've gotten preoccupied." I said back sitting down and crossing my legs. "Point is she's not here."

"I see. You're too cowardly to face my lady in combat."

"Too smart to face your lady in combat. Big difference." I shot back. "And you'll find it difficult to piss me off when you're the one who's captured." She growled yet again as I reminded her of her predicament before she continued.

"You won't get anything out of us." She said in a tone that I could only guess was assuming the worst. .

"I don't care about you precious Shally if that's what your worried about. I just want you to tell me about Nazarik." I said back.

Her eyes widened as she looked at me yet again with a renewed sense of anger. Okay, this was going to be a little harder than I had hoped.

"Look I….." I started hoping to clarify.

"You will not get a thing from us, Human!" She spat back at me before I could finish. "Nazarick will remain untouched from your vile hands."

"I don't want to touch it, I just want to…" I stopped talking as a wave of exhaustion hit me. I suddenly felt how tired I was just as the sight of the dark sky turning increasingly brighter came to my attention. I looked back to her and when I saw that her gaze drifted back to the other vampire beside her, I decided to call it quits for now.

"Fine. I'll try this again later." I said standing back up. Her eyes never left her compatriot as I walked back towards the building and they stayed there after I had closed the door behind me. I sighed heavily as I leaned against the door much to Brain's amusement.

"That tired from talking?"

"What the hell are you still doing up?" I asked back annoyed.

"I wanted to see if that stuff actually worked. Silver weakening a vampire is sometimes thought to be an urban legend. Like a stake through the heart or some shit."

"Well, it looks like it worked." I replied looking out the window towards the non moving pair. "But their going to be tough to get information out of."

"And what information would that be exactly?" He asked.

"Do you know what YGGDRASIL is?" I asked back to himHis blank look gave me my answer. "I didn't think so." I sighed. Let's just say, they know where a few acquaintances of mine are and I need to find them."

"So the other vampire was what?" He asked with a yawn. "Their captor?"

"God only knows. I'm making this shit up as I go!" I replied with a tired yell. He chuckled a bit at my reaction before yawning.

"Well, I'm calling it a night." He said just as a ray of sunlight blazed through a broken window.

"Right. I guess I'll take the first watch." I replied rubbing my eyes.

"Watch for what?" He asked.

"Hell if I know." I said with another sigh. He passed out not long after that, collapsing onto a rotting wooden chair. I set myself up against the window and looked back out towards the tied up pair. The one that awoke screamed out in frustration for a while still pulling desperately against the chains before finally quieting down. Whenever she did calm down though, her eyes were always on her companion. The sight of which made me wonder what exactly their relationship was. Friends? Sisters? Lovers?...All three? I sure as hell didn't have a clue, but at the very least it was clear that one cared about the other. Now all I needed to do was to convince them that I wasn't going to harm Nazarick. No small task considering my encounter with their little entourage as well as their current predicament. I did essentially kidnap….

I slammed my head onto the dusty window seal at the realization. It all came full circle. I leave E-Rantel to stop a kidnapping, and now I had just kidnapped two people.

"For fuck's sake." I growled at myself as I repeated the smash to knock away the impending grogginess of my lack of sleep. What I would've given for a coffee right then. It was here oddly enough, my thoughts drifted to the object that had led me out of the mine. I pulled out the contraption again and began to really look at it. It still had the outer design of a pocket watch if you asked me but looking at it again, the twelve markings where the numbers should've been seemed to be glowing a light blue color. Curious, I lightly tapped the symbol that would've been the three….and nothing happened.

Anti climatic? Well I thought so too. Kind of disappointed but nevertheless glad nothing bad happened, I set myself up against the window desperately trying to keep from dozing off. Which was kind of hard to do because the vampire was still desperately trying to escape. The rattling chains kept me After some time, which might as well been weeks, I was that tired. I walked back out towards them.

Her gaze remained as vengeful as ever but I wasn't really focused on her at the moment. I moved past her and towards the still unconscious other.

"Keep away from her!" She yelled pulling on her chains. I paid her no mind though and immediately examined the body of her friend. Her heart wasn't beating but she was a vampire so that didn't really worry me. Still though, I figured she'd be awake by now. Her face wasn't contorted in any way so she wasn't in any unconscious pain. At least not visibly. By all accounts she should've been awake so why the hell wasn't she?

"Great. Maybe I did hit her a little too hard." I said aloud not really thinking before reaching inside my cloak. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the other girl grow a slightly confused look on her face as I pulled out a familiar potion.

"She won't choke on this will she?" I asked. I didn't get an answer. I was about to give it to her when it hit me. Healing potions healed the living if I remembered right. And since she wasn't technically living, this might just make things worse. I put the potion away and wondered if the opposite was true. Maybe if poison harmed the living, it could help the dead. I tore through my cloak again pulling out several vials of various liquids that I had honestly forgot I even had before finally finding one particular vial with a solid black liquid that might do the trick. Good old Rat poison.

You're probably wondering why the hell would I even carry that, but you gotta understand the rats back in YGGDRASIL were huge bastards. I'd almost caul them unusually sized. Right when I first bought a house, the first thing I bought for it was rat poison. Anyway, I silently prayed that this would work before pouring a good amount of it down her throat. After a moment or two her pale body began to emit a glowing purple aura and a rather loud popping sound came from her neck. Son of a bitch, I did hit her harder than I thought. I stood back up and within a few minutes I saw her eyes flick open. After adjusting to the light she looked up to me and rather unsurprisingly she tried to lunge. I however was too tired to move out of the way so less than inch from my face she bared her teeth in a low growl as the chains echoed through the area.

"Good morning to you too." I replied way to tired to care as I turned around and began walking back to the cabin. "Your welcome, Vampy." I said towards the other one before collapsing back into my little spot. I then yelled at Brain to wake up, which he did with a jolt.

"Yeah?" He said groggy as hell.

"Your turn." I said before finally shutting my eyes. Feeding poison to a vampire. I really was too good of a guy sometimes.

* * *

Once again, I awoke feeling like I had maybe got only an hour of sleep.

"Ah, still with us?" Brain asked as I rubbed my eyes.

"For now. Anything?"

"Nope. Just pretty quiet right now. Those two vampires hadn't really moved." He said with a noticeable chuckle. I looked out the window and saw the pair of them starring right back at me in a completely non-creepy and not spine tingling way.

"I think they like you." He laughed.

"You think your funny?" I asked back to him.

"I do." He said back. "I also think I'm hungry."

"And what am I supposed to do about that?" I replied.

"Nothing. I'm gonna go find us some food." He said moving to the door. "You just, do whatever it is you are doing with the vampires."

"Great." I said with a sigh as he walked out the back door. I looked back towards the pair whose stares hadn't faded in the slightest. Well at least maybe they'll talk now right?

"So, are we feeling better?" I asked towards the pair.

"Why?" One of them asked.

"Because I knocked you out."

"No. Why did you help me?" She asked.

"Because, I. Need. Answers." I said putting emphasis on each word to mask my annoyance.

"I knew it. You saved Reina just to get information about Nazarik!" The other vampire yelled out furious.

"No! For god's sake, I couldn't give less of a fuck about attacking Nazarick!" I yelled back matching her tone. "All I want to do is talk to someone ! I don't even care who. TouchMe, Momonga, HeroHero, Warrior, just somebody!

After taking a few breaths, I calmed back down. Looking back at their faces they had shifted to that of surprise and confusion. They looked at each-other and then back to me before the one called Reina spoke.

"You know of the Supreme Beings?"

"Supre...What?" I stopped mid word as the word had thrown me off.

She continued. "Lords TouchMe, HeroHero, and Warrior are all the Supreme Beings of Nazarick."

"Guild Members you mean? Why would they be called Supreme Beings?" I asked clearly confused.

"They created us." Reina said speaking in a tone of awe that I wouldn't have expected. "Us, the Pleiades, and even the Floor Guardians."

"Created?" I repeated back to them. How could they just create two people? The answer came to me just as quickly as the question. These two were NPCs. Or at least had been back in YGGDRASIL.

"So wait, Shalltear is what? A Floor Guardian?" I asked. I got silence in response as each looked away from me. Ok, I shouldn't ask about her in particular. Fair enough.

"Fine." I said once again sitting down opposite from them in the dirt. "Can you tell me anything then?"

"Not before you tell us how you know of them?" Reina continued. I sighed yet again before replying.

"I'm from YGGDRASIL." I said. Their eyes widened as I finished the sentence. "My name is Haon, the Handsome."The other vampire scoffed at the name Reina remained intrigued. "I'm hoping one of your, uh Supreme Beings might know how the hell we ended up in this new world. And if there's a way back home."

"And we're supposed to believe that? After you attacked us and Lady Shalltear?"

"Hey! I wanted to leave you guys alone! You attacked me first." I reasoned back. "I mean if that wasn't true, why the hell would I keep you two alive? Why would I waste a potion on you?!"

She went silent at that and looked away with a low growl.

"Look. If it makes you feel better, Shally actually knocked out two of my teeth." I said pointing inside my mouth to where two healthy beautiful teeth used to be.

"You got off easy Haon. Believe me." Reina said with a low laugh.

"I don't have a doubt. But I'm ready to let bygones be bygones." I said, leaving out the fact that I'm pretty sure Shalltear wasn't.

"Prove it." The other one ordered. "Release us."

"Are you kidding? You'll just go for my throat like last time." I shot back.

"I will not." She said in a false offended voice.

"No. You'll go for something else, I'm sure." I sighed. The three of us sat in quiet contemplation for a while as I tried to figure out where to go from here. We had officially made it out of the wanting to violently kill me stage but I still needed to earn their trust. And judging by their looks, that was going to take some extreme convincing. So I figured I'd start by getting to know them specifically.

"Ok can I at least get your name too?" I asked over to the vampire I had slugged in the face.

"Why should you get the privilege?" She asked

"Ok Vampy. I'm going to stick with that name." I said with a light laugh. She looked annoyed but after a quick look to Reina she sighed and spoke.

"….Remna." She grumbled just loud enough to hear.

"Reina and Remna huh? Cool." I said really liking the similarity. "And what exactly did you do under Shalltear?"

"We are Lady Shalltear's servants. Anything she asks of us, we carry it out without hesitation." Remna said quickly.

"I figured that part out, but what were you specifically created to be? Warriors? Spies?" I asked remembering their fighting skills from last night.

"Concubines." Reina replied simply and in a rather detached voice. Well I certainly didn't expect that answer.

"Ok….So are you two….related?" I asked rather hesitantly. Hey, if I didn't odds are I'd never get another chance.

"Related?" She repeated back to me seemingly confused by the word. I was confused before remembering she was created by the Supreme Beings themselves. She probably didn't have a clue what being related meant and she certainly wasn't related to anyone for that matter.

"Never mind." I replied quickly while shaking my head. That was too off topic. I looked up to the admittedly beautiful sky for a moment thinking about soaring through the thick white clouds that were floating by before remembering I had lost something very valuable. With a large groan, I looked back over towards the pair.

"Hey, can either of you fly?"

* * *

 **Well there ya go. Sort of a calmer chapter than last time but I felt like it should be. Not everything can be one huge fight for survival after all. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed it. The Vampire Brides are interesting to write considering we never really got a feel for their personality in the series. But hopefully they turned out ok.**

 **See ya guys later**.


	8. Trying to Talk and Glimpsing Ainz

We ended up spending the day and night in that camp. Brain kept us fed with some animals he could hunt and I tried to my best to get some info out of the vampiric pair. Not surprisingly though, they weren't that talkative especially about Nazarick and it's inhabitants. So I decided to play the long game. Talk about themselves, or the weather, or just about anything other than Nazarick. Much of which, I only got a grunt, a nod, or a simple sentence response devoid of emotion. Initially I thought I could just patiently wait for them to open up. But by morning on the second day of our little camp. I was getting really frustrated. So I decided instead of trying to talk to the pair right then, I'd see if I could find what I lost.

Against my better judgement, I rushed back out and spent the better part of the day scouring the area where me and Shalltear 'fought' trying to find my favorite necklace. I know it wasn't the best idea but what would you d? You lose an item that can make you fly and you don't try to get it back? Please. And I don't know it was either some divine smiling on me or if I was just exceptionally lucky, but after hours of bush and tree searching, I found the little devil gleaming in the grass thanks to a small ray of sunshine that blazed through the leaves. I grabbed it, threw it around my neck and, satisfied beyond all measure, yelled. "Fly."

I shot off into the air, rushing past the trees and into the blue sky above. This was never going to get old.

After being slightly childish or doing twirls and spins through the air, I took off back towards Brane's cabin area. When I began to descend, It looked like he caught sight of my shadow and looked up towards me. He immediately dropped a few squirrels and one rabbit

"That lunch?" I asked planting my feet back on the ground.

"What. The. Hell?" He asked with his mouth agape.

"What? Didn't I mention that I could fly?" I asked playing it off like nothing had happened.

"No. No you did not." He said trying his best to come to terms with what he just saw.

"Oh…well I can fly." I replied.

"I see that." He replied. "Care to tell me how?"

"Nope." I said sitting down on the ground and looking up at the sky with a satisfied smirk on my face.

Brain stared at me for some time looking more confused now then ever before mumbling something like "Okay then." As he started a small fire outside the cabin. I looked over to our still chained occupants who also had confused looks on their faces.

"Yeah. If I were you, I'd ask Shalltear for one of these." I said with large grin as I pointed towards my necklace before stuffing it under my new white cotton shirt I had slipped into this morning. It never really occurred to me until last night, that I should probably change my clothes often considering I don't have a shower at the moment.

It occurs to me that I never gave a real description of the pair of Vampire Brides as they preferred to be called. Well honestly it was kind of hard too. They looked exactly the same. From face to toe, they were almost identical. Both wore white dresses that you'd assume were just rags since they left a fair bit of skin exposed. I mean concubines or not, put some leather armor on at least. Their eyes were also identical being almost pure black save for a dot of bright crimson in the center. Really the only thing that separated them was their hair style since both were black as night. Reina wore hers straight down in a few braids while Remna's was styled to curve around the back of her head and back towards her neck seemingly defying gravity. In short, they looked like beautiful pale females who just happened to be blood sucking monsters…Kind of like most women.

As I sat there in the dirt doing my best to ignore the pair, a miracle happened. They began the conversation.

"You never did say how" One of them finally spoke up.

"How what?" I asked back.

"How do you know the Supreme Ones?" The one named Reina asked.

"I told you. I'm YGGDRASIL."I replied not understanding.

"Specifically. Were you one of ones who attacked Nazarick years ago?" Remna asked speaking up.

I laughed at the question harder than I meant to. I mean did I really come across as that stupid?

"Nope. I was too smart for that." I said catching my breath. "I mean seriously, who thought that was a good idea in the first place. All right guys, the guild called Ainz Ooal Gown has taken over YGGDRASIL strongest dungeon. I say we attack it." I continued trying to mimic what I thought must've been the initial thought process. "Morons."

"So how then?" Reina asked..

"Well we'd fight in tournaments." I replied simply. They didn't seem to understand so I figured telling them the name of one might due the trick."Know about the Black Dragon Battle Royale?"

Her face shifted to one of confusion while Remna's took on a shocked look. "You were there?"

"My first tournament. You can imagine my surprise when I actually found my way into the finals." I said growing slightly nostalgic.

"You fought Lord TouchMe?" Remna asked sounding even more shocked than she looked.

"No we talked about the weather. Of course we fought." I gave her a look meant to say stop asking stupid questions. " Well if you could call it a fight anyway. I got my ass handed to me." I finished with another laugh. Years later and I still remember that fight like it was yesterday. There I was some rookie fighting one of the most powerful people in the MMO and actually holding my own. I can't say that I didn't have a little bit of an ego about it afterwards which only compounded when TouchMe congratulated me on a good match. That guy hardly talked to anyone outside his guild mates. As Remna looked away contemplating what I just told her, Reina noticed my nostalgic grin and asked me about it.

"Why do you do that?" Reina asked.

I raised an eyebrow towards her."What? Laugh?"

"Yes. You were beaten. How was that not shameful to you?" She asked clearly confused by my actions. I tilted my head wondering if she was serious. When she gave no indication she was joking, I replied.

"Why is it shameful to lose?" I asked back to her. "Do you honestly think, that everyone you come across on the battlefield is going to be weaker than you are? And that when you lose you should be sad about it forever?"

Remna turned her gaze towards me as I continued.

"Look, I'm not sure if anyone in Nazarick's ever told you this but in life you're going to lose far more often then win. It's just a fact. If I curled up into a ball and cried every time something bad happened…Well, I wouldn't be the man I am today." I finished with another smile. Their confused faces didn't waver however.

"For humans victory may be yearned for. But for Nazarick it is expected." Remna replied after what sounded like a small sigh. "To look back on defeat with a smile is shameful to both the Guardians and the Supreme Ones?"

"Says who?" I asked. They once again were lost on the question. "Did any of the Supreme Ones tell you that? Specifically I mean?"

"Not specifically. It is simply understood by us and the Guardians themselves." Remna replied.

"Well that sounds a little dull wouldn't you say? I mean what does that say about you two then?" I questioned with a cocky smirk.

They looked at me angrily at first but that quickly shifted towards concern as they looked over towards each other.

"We have failed them all. Nazarick, Lady Shalltear, Lord Ainz. As such, when we see them again, we accept whatever punishment they deem worthy." Reina answered.

"Come on. Where's your backbone?!" I asked seriously. I don't know if it was just NPCs were naturally super obedient to their creators or not. But these two were taking the possibility of death for not winning a fight very seriously. A thought then occurred to me. One where they might actually answer something about Ainz.

"Fine. Let's you break out. Kill me and get back to Nazarick. What do you think Ainz will do to you? What's he like?" I asked.

The pair grew curious faces as they contemplated the question.

"He does what is best for Nazarick. That is all we ever need know." Remna answered.

"You seriously don't have a clue? Have you tried asking him?" I asked starting to get annoyed by their lack of courage.

"No but….." Remna's look of confusion began to grow as she thought about it. "Lady Shalltear herself is a servant to Lord Ainz. If she does not see fit to gift us with certain knowledge of him, that is our lot in life."

I stared dumbfounded at the undead woman for several seconds before scoffing. "With an attitude like that, its easy to see why Shally probably treats you like garbage."

"What did you just say?!" Reina demanded, her temper flaring and pulling on the chains that bound her. I wanted to stop right there and apologize but a strange feeling came over me and my mouth began to say something my character would've said rather than me.

"Tell me something, you're her concubines right? When was the last time you actually pleased your mistress?"

"What?!" The pair of them screamed simultaneously.

"I mean with how subservient you are, I'd imagine you as a poor choice in bed mates. 'As you wish. Of course my lady.' Boring." I said inwardly laughing at my horrible imitations. " A woman like Shalltear, I bet she'd like someone to really take charge and…."

"SILENCE!" Remna yelled pulling her chains so hard that I almost wondered if she was about to tear her arms off from the strain. "You say one more insulting thing about Lady Shalltear, and I will tear you apart in ways that Lady Albedo herself would dream about!"

The three of us sat there in silence for a good while before the feeling I had vanished and I was left wondering if I had taken a knife to any amount of progress we may have made before finally speaking again.

"My apologies… I shouldn't have said those things." I got no reply though other than a hate filled gaze and silence. Yep. Back to square one.

With a deep angry sigh, I picked myself up off the ground and decided to go for a walk. It wasn't like those two were going anywhere.

"Hey Brain, can you keep watch?" I called out.

"You just got back." He pointed out.

"And now I'm going again. Can you keep watch?" I asked.

"Sure thing. But don't take too long." He said giving a noticeable side eye towards the chained up pair as he he held a skinned squirrel over the fire. I nodded in thanks and began walking away from the abandoned settlement and thinking about what little I had actually learned from the conversation.

First and foremost of which was that I got a new name out of her. Albedo. Judging by her wording she must've been higher ranked than Shalltear which may or may not mean she was even more powerful. But then again that made sense. I had heard Nazarick was a massive tomb and if I remembered correctly that the guild holding it was at it's max forty one players strong. And since each one could create their own NPCs, they might very well have an entire army inside those walls. Which more than likely meant all of them will be out for my blood when Shalltear gets back to them.

"God damn it." I said aloud frustrated at the theory continuing on my walk through the forest. I mean how the hell was I going to explain that? 'Hey there. I stabbed Shalltear in the eye. Can I talk to you?' I might as well buy myself a casket and ship it to them. Then again, Shalltear did say they'd use my body to serve Nazarick. So I guess at the very least they'd make do with my corpse.

I suddenly realized I was talking about death rather casually and began to wonder if that actually was me or Haon chiming in. I guess technically it was Haon considering that was what I named myself but still I recognized that my old self wouldn't be so talkative about the subject of my own death. That thought and all the others though were silenced when I came across something sparkling in the distance. My heart gleamed for a split second with the hope that it might be a certain lost necklace of mine but it quickly vanished when my gaze finally saw it clearly. It looked like a piece of glass.

Now you can put two and two together and see that piece of broken glass in the middle of an empty grass field doesn't really make sense, so I don't think I need to tell you in detail on how I arrived at that conclusion. I looked around for any more shards and began to see them littered all over the ground with two bigger shards sticking out from the rest. Both of which were shaped like the upper and lower parts of a healing potion. Before I could attempt to piece together what happened here though, I caught sight of about five bodies littered around the fields each missing several vital appendages and noticeably drained of blood.

I froze as a wave of fear rushed over my body like water. Shalltear was still on the move and a lot closer to me than I thought. I grabbed Jade's hilt and immediately combed over the area looking for any sign of her. I didn't see anything. Nevertheless I readied myself. She was going to find me a little tougher to bring down this time when she attacked. That much I could guarantee.

Minutes passed however, and sooner rather later I began to wonder if she was actually still here. When we fought, she didn't seem like the type for sneaking around so I wondered what was keeping her. After some more time passed, I let myself breath and relax. She wasn't here. Or if she was she wasn't interested in attacking me right now. I decided to take another look at the poor bastards who were unlucky enough to run into her. They were a pretty divisive clique of people. It reminded me of the guys I met traveling to E-Rantel. I wondered for a moment what exactly those guys were doing before re focusing on the situation. I wondered how many bodies I had seen since I've gotten to this world and once again noticed how it didn't seem to bother me as much as it should've. Was that a good thing or a bad thing, I really wasn't sure any more.

Initially, I figured they were another part of Brane's group but after combing through their pockets and seeing a notice I realized I was wrong. These poor guys had taken on a contract to stop Brane's people.

I looked at their bodies yet again and felt both a huge swell of pity for them and huge amount of luck for me. I could've ended up just like them after all. Walking into a situation you think you know only to find that its far different than you could've ever imagine. Pretty much described my entire time here so far.

I reluctantly turned my back to them though when I noticed a large amount of crimson splattered on the grass. And even weirder than that, a trail of it leading into another edge of the forest. I grew a small smile. Maybe someone had actually escaped Shalltear. I took off following the trail into the woods. A number of times, I thought I'd look behind a tree and see whatever was left of the bastard leaning up against the bark. But I never did and the trail kept going. After a while, it sank in that this was an unusual amount of blood lost for a regular girl or guy to not be dead somewhere and it sent a small shiver down my spine. This could've just been a trap.

Before I could think about that any further though, I arrived at the opposite end of the forest which looked out towards a large clearing filled with nothing but grass and the occasional boulder. The trail kept going but I took cover behind a tree instead of chasing after it. After catching my breath from the run I had just taken, I crept my head around the bark to see if I could see where the trail ended. And I caught sight of the finish almost immediately.

It ended right behind the exact figure I had hoped to NOT run into in a large red puddle. It also then occurred to me that the blood I had been following hadn't dried up in the slightest. I figured it must've been the orb she held over her head when she slaughtered Brane's men but I didn't really have time to dwell on it. There Shalltear was, standing so perfectly still that you could almost mistake her for a statue if not for the the Victorian clothing. She also had a new weapon with her, a large blue lance that honestly looked way too big for her height.

What really caught my eye though was the crater she was standing in. Either she put that there or there had been some sort of skirmish here. And judging by her lack of movement, I guessed it was the latter. But there had been a fight here, where were the other fighters? And if they had indeed actually won, why just leave Shalltear here? And why the hell did it look like she was in a standing coma? None of it made any sense.

I then had a long arduous debate with myself behind that tree on what exactly I should do now. Every logical part of my brain screamed at me to get the hell out of there and that I was pushing my luck as it was. They were probably right, but that didn't change the fact that Shalltear still knew where Nazarick was and if I could somehow get her to tell me where, hopefully without dying, I just might be able to find away home.

So with a heavy heart, I mentally prepped myself for a fight if one should occur. Then when I finally mustered enough courage, I heard footsteps cracking on the grass. Just like that my courage vanished. Peaking my head ever so slightly from the tree, I could see someone or something new moving slowly towards frozen Shalltear. Almost as quickly as I had did that I tore it right back out of sight praying that I hadn't been spotted.

One of them had been a large hulking figure with what I thought looked like a black cloak and what I thought was some sort of staff at his side. I could also tell there was another figure to his right, but I had turned away too quickly to see anything else about them. A moment or two later their foot steps stopped and along with them my breath. I held it inside my chest all the while praying they hadn't actually spotted me.

"Shalltear." A voice I thought sounded familiar spoke with a strange radiance of power. I let loose the lightest breath I could just as another voice spoke up.

"Shalltear! Answer you master you disrespectful little wench!" A feminine voice filled with anger ordered. I figured it belonged to the second figure traveling with the large one.

"Be quiet!" The deeper voice suddenly yelled with a slight sense of alarm. "I didn't think it was possible, but Shalltear's clearly affected even though she's undead." He continued. "There was definitely a battle here and the victor took control of her mind. Then she was left here without any orders to take."

Ok. This guy was damn good. He put all that together in just a few seconds.

"We need to break the spell over Shalltear. Though it is a shame to waste such a powerful item on a counter spell.

I'm wasn't sure what he was doing, but a huge amount of magic suddenly appeared in the area sending shivers up and down my spine and standing my hairs up on end.

"Lord, what is that?" The female asked.

"The ring known as Shooting Star." He replied.

Fucking Shooting star?! That thing was one of the rarest items in Yggdrasil….In Yggdrasil? The guy talking must've been Ainz! I inwardly screamed at myself to leap out and talk to him, to ask god knows how many questions and hopefully get some answers. But I knew if I did, I might just be killed on the spot by either him or the female beside him.

"It's a super rare item. Three times a day, it allows the wielder to cast the spell Wish Upon A Star." He said in a similar tone to that of a teacher.

Super rare item? There was an understatement if I ever heard it. Might as well call being teleported to a medieval world "weird". But I digress.

"So, that item contains Super Tier magic?" She asked.

"Yes. You've never seen it?" He answered with light tone of interest.

"Not in person no. I've not been graced with the honor." She admitted.

"Well then your in luck. Using it requires a certain skill set. One which I happen to have." He said in an almost bragging tone.

"But Lord Ainz. Shalltear is a servant. She isn't worthy of such an item. Your compassion knows no bounds!"

Christ! This lady sounded even worse than the vampire chicks and that didn't seem possible. She hang on every word this guy said like some sort of lusty teenager. And since when was rescuing an NPC of yours something only compassionate people do?! It's supposed to be common goddamn sense!

I heard a few more footsteps taken before the man spoke again.

"Now then. Time to bring Shalltear back into the fold." I felt yet another explosion of magic and saw a powerful blue light seep onto the leaves and bark of the trees

"Shooting Star, cure Shalltear of all her status effects. I command you!" He yelled out.

The amount of magic energy seemed to double and the light only grew powerful for a total to six seconds before something strange happened. It faded, and amount of magic I could feel began to disappear astonishingly fast. You'd think that meant the spell worked but what I heard next signaled otherwise.

"We're leaving! Albedo, Let's go!" Ainz ordered sounding much more alarmed then before. Against my better judgment, I looked out towards them only see a slightly clearer look at Albedo grab onto Ainz and vanish in ray of blue light. Fearing Shalltear had woken up I looked over to her next. Nope, she was still as still as when I had arrived. I felt a small amount of magic linger several dozen yards away from here though and I immediately panicked. I finally here the mysterious Ainz and he disappears before I can talk to him? Oh no. Not on my watch.

I ran my hands through my cloak trying desperately to find a small contraption that would allow me to see where exactly they went. Finally I found them and pulled out a pair of simple glasses. Or rather as they were called back in Yggdrasil, Eagle Eyes.

I slipped them on over my head and immediately began began to figure out where they went. You see teleporting targets were always a bitch to track back in Yggdrasil. But they weren't impossible if you had the right items. Eagle Eyes was one such item. The pair had teleported to a spot several dozen yards away from Shalltear. With a deep breath, I crept along the tree line over towards them. Trying my best not too make any noise whatsoever. Whether they would of heard me I'm not sure, but I think I was saved by the quakes Ainz himself was making out of frustration from the spell not working. Here I got a much better glimpse of the man's face or to be more precise skeleton. I recognized it right away as Momonga. Ainz Ooal Gown's guild leader and one of the strongest mages in Yggdrasil. I was so stunned to actually see another player from YGGDRASIL being physically here that I hadn't noticed that he had started talking to Albedo again until a minute later.

"A World Level Item." He growled.

I nearly choked on the breath I was taking when I heard that sentence. A WLI was no laughing matter back in Yggdrasil. God knows what it was like here. True I didn't here it in context to whatever he meant but that didn't stop me from worrying about what he actually meant before he continued.

"The security level of Nazarick needs to be raised to maximum and every guardian needs to return home immediately."

"Yes lord. After Aura gathers the Vampire Brides she will join us there."

I froze yet again as they pair vanished in a mother flash of blue light. He had sent someone out to look for the other vampires?! And if they'd been searching for them nearby…..

My eyes widened in horror. I tore the glasses from my face and sprinted back across the field not paying frozen Shalltear any mind save for noticing the dagger I had left implanted in her right eye had vanished along with any wound it might've left.

I began to move faster as I followed the blood trail out of the forest and back into the clearing where I found the dead bodies. I brushed past them fully intent on getting back to Brane and the Brides before Momonga's people did. I kept my pace as the wind blew past me and I came towards the clearing that led back towards the mining camp. I was stopped though by a pair of hands that suddenly grabbed me from behind a tree. I moved to pull Jade from its sheathe before seeing the face of the person.

"Brain? What the hell?" I asked.

"We need to get out of here!" He said sounding more panicked than before. "Two monsters showed up and took the Vampires!"

"What?!"

"Look. I'll explain it in the cart! Let's just get the hell out here!" He said pulling me in the direction of the wagon we had hidden away nearby. I pulled away from him before we got close.

"I can't Brain." He looked at me I had lost every sense I had.

"Are you kidding me?! We need to go." He said with alarm.

"Brain, I can't. I need to go after them." I told him, really not liking how calm I seemed to be.

"For fuck's sake, WHY?!" He yelled at me. " They're god damn vampires who tried to kill you!"

"They're the only chance I've got to get back home." I finally told him. "And I know it's stupid but I can't risk losing that. Not when I've finally made some progress." His look softened a bit at my words but he still looked concerned.

"Look, I'm sorry. Truly I am." He admitted. "But there's got to be another way. Going after them is suicide, if it leads back to the monster that attacked me and my men."

"Yeah it probably is….." I said with a nod of agreement. "But I've still got to do it."

"Haon, you saved my life." Brain said sounding slightly shaken. "I'm trying to repay you now."

"You want to repay me?" I asked. "Go and actually help some people instead of hurting them. God knows this place could use a few more heroes." I said ending our conversation by turning my back to him and racing back towards the camp. I'm not sure what look he gave me as I left but if I had to guess it would be one that said "that guy's an idiot."

I slowed my speed when I got to the outskirts of the camp and took cover in case anyone was still skulking around there. After a few moments though, I didn't spot anyone and I started to survey the area. The fire Brane had started was doused, probably by him in the panic to get away. And the chains that had held the Brides were destroyed along with the post they were chained to. Well that was comforting.

Fortunately whatever freed them also left tracks. I didn't have any idea what t looked like but all that mattered was that I could see them and that they led away from the camp. I took a deep breath and began running the way led. Knowing full well that if I did actually find Nazarick and Momonga wasn't there, odds were I was going to get killed.

Well at least I wouldn't need to waste money on a casket.


	9. Infiltrating Nazarick

**A/N: Just a little fore warning, keep reading into the next chapter. I'm not actually as retarded as I seem.**

* * *

I followed those tracks for a decent amount of time before realizing the gravity of what I was about to do. If it all turned to shit, or if there was no one out in the front of the tomb, I was going to have to invade Nazarick. Me. A lone man was going to invade a tomb that an army of fifteen hundred hadn't been able to conquer. What can you do in that situation except laugh?

So that's what I did. I laughed a good long time at the pure absurdity of everything that had happened to me since I got to the world. I mean cause why not, right? I get sucked into a fantasy world, fight and kill a bunch of blood hungry knights, save a kid, meet a group of adventurers, try to save a woman who turned out to be a vampire, fight said vampire before escaping down a mineshaft, and now I'm off to in get into the most dangerous dungeon probably ever created. Because why fucking not?!

But I knew that complaining about it, though it gave a therapeutic feeling, wasn't really going to help me. So after calming down, I decided not to take a step further until I had a plan.

I couldn't fight my way through. Momonga was a powerful mage on his own but, if everyone NPC in the tomb was a strong as Shally, then I'd be better off just digging my grave right here. I thought about surrendering but I really didn't trust that I would be treated humanely. Call it paranoia but something told me if I did that I'd end up being either a Vampire's servant at best, or a mindless skeletal soldier in their undead army at worst. So I decided against that as well. After some more thought, I finally came to the only real choice I had. I would have to sneak into Nazarick.

It just made the most sense. Fighting through was suicide and and surrendering was too risky. I guess in hindsight, I could've just stayed with Shalltear and hoped Momonga would return later on, but in my defense I wasn't sure if the coma Shalltear in was permanent and I didn't want to risk having to fight her when I could hopefully avoid a fight all together.

So the question then became how the hell I was going to do that. I had luckily been told that Nazarick security was going to be raised to maximum. So there would be absolutely no room for error. I stepped away from the tracks and sat under a random tree before pulling off my cloak. I was going to go over everything I had so see what I could work with.

As I began to rummage through my supplies I thought back to my conversations with players who had tried to conquer Nazarick years ago. Trying to remember anything they said that could help me now.

 _"Well we were pretty much fucked to begin with."_

That's a comforting thought.

 _"I got about halfway through before Momonga appeared right in front of me."_

Useless.

 _"TouchMe, took me out from the back. Like he just popped up."_

Damn it. Nothing was coming to mind at all.

 _"It was the weirdest thing, one minute I'm trying to fight HeroHero, the next Yamiako just comes down from the top. And she was supposed to be on the third floor on the fourth!"_

My thinking halted as I finally understood. Perhaps there was a way to get around the temple quickly. Thirteen floors was a hell of a distance to go so it made sense. I thought back to that particular conversation.

" _What I wouldn't give for a ring like that."_

 _"It was a ring?" I asked as he downed a tankard of ale._

 _"Yeah. Be my guess, both HeroHero and Yamiako had one."_

Ok. A ring I needed to be on the lookout for one. Of course with my luck it probably was going to be long to some twenty foot tall monster who eats children and shits despair. But just in case, I pocketed an extra ruby gold ring.

I turned my full attention back to my pack.

Several dozen healing potions. Nice, I kept those out. Several daggers that could replace the ones I lost. Grabbed a few of those. Then after a few more moments of searching, I came to exactly what I needed.

I pulled out a set of perfectly folded clothes. Each one dark as night and made up of an insanely comfortable fabric that felt like a breath fresh air as I slipped them on. The new clothes themselves were a custom made set called Shadow Suit made by Radara. Just who was Radara? An old friend that I used to run with back in the day and more specifically a master thief who was supposedly impossible to detect back in Yggdrasil. How'd I get his clothes? A story for another time. All that mattered was that I had them and they might be just what I needed to survive what I was about to do. I ran through my cloak again digging deeper and deeper for anything else that might help me. I packed several necklaces into my bag for backups in case it all went to shit, and then finally I folded up my cloak and slipped into said bag which I then wrapped around my torso, fashioning it so it made absolutely no noise as I walked. Ok. This might actually work.

I slipped on the final article a clothing, a mask with two white slits that allowed me to see and soon enough the suit's power took hold. A god level ability that turned the user visible for twenty four hours maximum.I became unseen not just to the human or monster eye, but to anyone who could sense any type of mana or life force. I filled the suits pockets with potions, necklaces and daggers, thanked Radara, wherever he might've been, and after taking a deep breath continued on my way. Though now with no noise, and leaving no trace that I was ever there.

It took me a good long while to finally get to where I was going leaving densely packed forests behind for rolling grasslands that almost gleamed in the sunlight and dance as the wind blew through the glades. The sight was pretty damn calming honestly. Really helped me come to terms with what I was about to do. The footprints I had been following had disappeared once I had stepped onto the grass but nevertheless I kept moving in one direction. Running up and tumbling down a multitude of hills, taking care not to accidentally move in another direction but not truly worrying about it. After all if I got lost, I would just get a better vantage point a few hundred feet up in the air. Luckily for me, there was no need because after a few moments later, Nazarick finally came into view. And I was almost knocked off my feet at the sight.

Standing firmly at the bottom of an almost completely circular valley, it was perfectly situated for any invading army that had the balls to attack it. With just one stretch of flat land that led in and out of the Tomb's grounds. The Tomb itself was a marvel to behold. It stood just as tall as the highest building back in E-Rantel yet somehow looked even more grand. Made of pure white stone, that practically radiated power and influence it rightfully gave any onlooker a sense of awe and foreboding. Doubly so for me since I was going to have to be the first person to infiltrate it. Before that though, I looked around for any possible villages or farms. None appeared. It seemed Nazarick had been placed pretty far removed from any signs of civilization. I say placed because I was pretty sure that back in Yggdrasil the tomb had been situated in some sort of dark swamp so for it now to be standing here in the middle of some hill ridden grassland meant that whatever brought me here also brought the entirety of Ains Ooal Gown. The guild, not the person.

That last little bit had been scratching at my mind for a while now. Why was Momonga now calling himself Ains? It didn't really seem to makes sense. That would be like if I started to call myself Knights. Oh, I don't I ever mentioned what my little group was called back in Yggdrasil. We were the guild Knights Reign.

Anyway, I pushed such thoughts to the back of my head. If I lived through what I was about to do, then I would ask all the questions I damn well felt like. My eyes scanned over the sun bathed area surrounding the tomb looking for any signs of traps, monsters, or NPCs who were probably both. None came to light, but I knew that didn't mean they weren't there. Before I could start my mission though, I took a deep breath and scratched the back of my neck through the black fabric that hid it. There's was no going back from this if I took another step forward. Either I find Momonga and some answers, or I end up in the ground or worse. Despite the options, there was really no inward debate about stopping. It just served as a reminder as to not get killed.

"All right, Nazarick. How bad can you actually be?" I said to myself as I leaped off from my vantage point and started sliding down through the sea of green that held us apart.

I regretted that decision almost immediately as about half way down a small army of creatures became visible. I couldn't very well stop myself so I whispered the word "Fly" and took off into the air, silently hovering over a large congregation of various species of nightmare inducing monsters and demons talking amongst themselves.

"So what do you think?" A winged minotaur asked expelling what looked like ash from his breath.

"I think, you should focus." A tiger like creature replied annoyed.

"You're not curious about who captured Reina and Remna?" The minotaur asked back.

"Outside of him attacking Nazarick, I couldn't care less about him."

"But what if he's the same person who turned Shalltear traitor? What if he unleashes her on us?"

"Then we fight Shalltear." The other demon replied simply. "Asking about it is neither our place nor going to help us in the long run. As long as we make sure no one gets inside Nazarick then I consider out job accomplished and Demiurge or Ains won't have our heads on spikes."

I felt the tiniest ounce of pity for them as I flew right over their unsuspecting heads and closer toward the entrance. Many of the other demons where engaged in conversations similar to theirs and it actually made me feel like a badass, hearing them talk about me with curious and fearful tone.

"They said he fought against Lord Touchme in a tournament." A wolf like being said.

"But then why didn't he kill Reina or Remna? He clearly wasn't a friend of Nazarick." Another vampire similar to the Brides pointed out. "Right?"of

"Who can say? Perhaps lord Ains will be able to figure it out."

Of course, if you listened long enough the conversation always drifted back to how amazing Ains is. Which strangely enough, made me wonder how my NPCs would have talked about me if I actually had made any back in Yggdrasil. Would I be talked about as a walking god? At risk of making my ego even bigger, I pushed through the air as quickly and quietly as I could before finally reaching the monstrously sized gate that led inside the tomb. One problem though. Even if they couldn't see or hear me, they would definitely be able to hear and see a gate opening by itself. So that was a conundrum. Perhaps they had a back door?

Not a moment later the doors began go open out towards me and out walked a very interesting creature. A gargantuan blue armored insectoid who looked like some nightmarish cross between mantis and ant. Sporting a tail that was just about as long as he was tall and clutching a large halberd that seemed to weigh little more than a feather in his hands. As he looked in the exact direction where I was floating, I panicked. Worried that I had somehow been spotted. Much to my relief, it simply turned out to be a passing bird of sorts flying just a few feet behind me. I thought I heard some for of a chuckle come from the creature but I honestly couldn't be sure. I did however get a sudden rush of energy at the thought of facing this guy in combat. Call it a warrior's hunch but I pegged him as a swordsman like myself, and honestly, it would be nice to see how much I could do if I gave it my all. I pushed that thought back for now. Odds are I'd meet him later either when I try to escape or hopefully under friendlier circumstances.

"Listen up!" He called out towards the congregation. Every conversation stopped almost instantly and everyone of the demon's attention was on the newcomer and I guess technically me considering I was floating above his head.

"Lord Ains has ordered that Nazarick's security be set to maximum. I'm sure you all remember what that means. You see anything, and I mean anything suspicious you contact, Albedo, Demiurge, or myself. From that point, every floor will be locked down." He shouted out towards the crowd. "I'll be frank,We don't know what to expect here. With Shalltear gone rouge, and the lack of a reason why, it's worrisome. But let me make one thing clear to all of you."

"We still have a job to do. Lord Ains is the last of the Supreme Beings. And I have have no intention of letting Shalltear, or anyone else take him from us. I hope I can ask the same for you!"

A loud chorus of grunts and growls of agreement rang out from the crowd giving him his expected reply.

"Very good. Remember, anything….." I didn't here what else he said as my brain froze. I looked to the now open door inwardly slapping myself.

"What the hell am I doing?" I took off into the temple before he could finish his sentence. Thankfully the hallway leading deep into the Tomb, was lit up by a hallway of torches that seemed to extend on into oblivion.

After maybe half an hour of heading in a straight line in a seemingly endless hallway, worry began to sneak back into my mind. How long did this floor go? Was each one bigger than the last? And where the hell were the guards here? They couldn't have all been outside could they? Were they all in the next floor down? All of which paled to how I was going to get my hands on a teleporting ring. I mean honestly, god knew where those things were or if any of the NPCs had them and even if one did, the odds of actually running across them so early were astronomically low that I might as well be banking on a giant meteor to just crash into the Tomb.

Then, I heard what sounded like two kid voice echoing from further down the hallway, I once again prayed not to be spotted somehow and just hovered motionless about ten feet overhead letting the voices get closer and closer until they were just a few feet away from me. Thanks to the torches, I was able to get a decent picture of the two.

They were dark elves, still children by the look of them. Each sharing the same face as the other which made me guess they were either twins or just the same character preset with slightly different alterations form the other. Both had golden hair though styled differently Once you look away from their faces though you could start to see the differences between the two. Though similar in size, one was dressed in what looked like a red and white suit with brown gloves and the other a blue undershirt hidden under a white vest and matching skirt. Before I could really start to listen though, my jaw threatened to fall straight to the floor. The both of them were carrying several artifacts/ weapons that radiated an overwhelming tide of magic.

At first I panicked that I might've already been found out and that these two brought those damn things to kill me but as I finally started to really listen to their conversation it became apparent that those items weren't met for me.

"Do you really think Lord Ainz will need our help?" The one in the skirt asked in a strange combo of worried and depressed.

"Shalltear's strong but Ainz is stronger. My guess is all we're going to be doing is watching and making sure she doesn't try and pull a fast one on him." The one in the tunic replied with a lot more energy compared to the other.

"But if that's true, why is Lord Ainz asking us to bring World Level Items?

"WORLD LEVEL?!" I inwardly screeched.

"I told you these aren't for us, I just gave Demiurge one and when we get outside you hand Billion Blades to Cocytus."

"Oh….ok." The skirt one said with a head droop.

"Why are you so worried for?" The one in the tunic asked.

"It's just…..what if I mess up and let Lord Ains down? I don't want….."

"Will you get over yourself?" The tunic one asked giving the one in the skirt a light flick on the head. "What's on your finger?"

The elf in the skirt looked down to her hand and my eyes caught glimpse of a small shimmer that came from her ring. "You think Lord Ains gives those out to anyone?"

"N-No…."

"Mare, Lord Ainz trusted you with a Ring of Ainz Ooal Gown! None of us have something like that."

My eyes lit up like a Christmas tree when I spotted the very ring she mentioned. Astronically low, sure. But not impossible. Though god knows my head hurt just thinking about the odds. The first pair of servants I come across inside Nazarik and one of them happens to have a shortcut on them. Where was this luck when I was fighting Shalltear?!

"That should be all the proof that you need that you'll do fine." The elf in the tunic said growing a rather infectious smile that the one called Mare soon returned.

"I see. Thanks Aura."

"Hey, big sisters take care of their little brothers. Now let's hurry it up. Odds are Ainz won't be down in the treasury for long."

The whole scene may have actually been a little heart warming if it weren't for the fact I had realized something. "Wait, the one in the tunic's a girl?" My train of realization continued. "Wait, THE ONE IN THE SKIRT'S A GUY?!

I glared down towards the two as they continued to walk back towards Nazarik's entrance. What was the point of that? Cross dressing, childlike warriors?! I mean what kind of weird, out there, people would do something like that?

"Japanese." I grumbled. To my instant regret the one in the tunic, Aura, stopped and stiffened.

"Mare, did you hear something?" She asked her blue and green eyes darting all across the room.

"I don't think so. What did you hear?" Mare asked as I started sweating up a storm and inwardly calling myself every curse word under the sun.

"I'm not sure. " Her eyes stopped right on me. That was it. I was spotted and now I was going to die. I waited for some sort of attack whether from Aura or Mare for what seemed like an eternity before deciding to test my luck and seeing if it held. I was hovering pretty close to some high up torches. If I could slowly drift to the away from the fire she might just think it was just the torch or wind or something.

Look, I'm no Da Vinci. I know it wasn't a master stroke of genius but you try coming up with a better plan in the heat of the moment.

So I slowly eased myself away from the fire, never taking my gaze off Aura and inwardly jumping for joy when her eyes didn't follow me. I kept my pace slow though, at risk of having her actually somehow spot me before looking over to Mare. Specifically, the ring around his finger.

Radara once mentioned that if your stealth stat was high enough you could pretty much steal the clothes off of an NPC's back in Yggdrasil. And since I had Radara's suit which pretty much maxed out my stealth, I pegged my chances of stealing a ring from one would be even better. At least if that particular saying held true in this world. Just to be safe though, I pulled the spare useless ring from my pocket that luckily matched the one he wore in color.

So without really having a backup plan, I floated down to Mare, taking a silent breath as I touched down right beside him. His eyes still seemed focused on Aura who had returned to scanning the room rather than just one area. I knelt down and began to slip my hands over to his hand that had lowered down to his side fist unclenched like he was getting ready to summon something if the need arose. Again, no pressure. I bit down on my tongue in nervousness as I lightly wrapped my in index finger and thumb around the ring band.

"You're sure you didn't hear something?" Aura suddenly asked back to her brother causing me to nearly fall on my ass in surprise.

"I don't think so." Mare looked around himself including right at me though his eyes didn't linger like Aura's did. "Should we tell the others?"

Aura gave one last look around as I slowly continued to slip the ring from Mare's finger. Holding my breath for the entire way as time seemed to move at a standstill. Just as Aura finally looked back to her brother the ring left his hand, I slipped the fake onto his hand, closed my fist around it tightly as I once again floated back up into the air.

"Nevermind. We'll tell Cocytus to seal the front of the Tomb until we get back." Aura said walking under me and past her brother who quickly followed. I kept on floating struggling to keep my breath to myself until I felt they were safely out of hearing range, and a few minutes further just for good measure. I finally sucked in as much air as I could in a series of rather loud sounding sighs before looking back in my hand. Great, so now all I had to do was pray that I don't get sucked into some sort of monster pit once I activated it.

I slipped the ring onto my finger and started to think about the floors I could start with. I really had no knowledge of the place and as far as I knew, Ains could've been anywhere. Then it hit me, a tomb as grand as this with thirteen colossal floors as bound to have a throne room. And if Ains wasn't there already, he'd definitely return to it soon enough. I gave my self a metaphorical pat on the back, as I sent a command to the ring.

 _"Throne Room, please_." I shouted from my mind.

Next thing I know, the dimly lit never ending hallway vanished and I found myself in what looked like a white meeting room filled with a large round wooden table with forty one chairs huddled around it. I was confused at first. Definitely a lot more thrones than I was expecting until I saw a particular door that stood out from the other thirteen. It stood maybe twice their size and seemed emit power just by standing there. I pulled open said door with a little bit of effort and finally saw the pies de resistance.

 _"Now, this is a Throne Room_." I thought to myself as my draw dropped. The chamber was colossal. Putting to shame any other royal or throne room I had seen in YGGDRASIL littered with dark columns that stretched almost a hundred feet high to touch the ceiling and several doors that probably led to smaller chambers of either his NPCs or the rest of the guild members.

Interestingly enough, I hadn't realized until now that the only guild member the NPCs tended to talk about was Momonga or Ains and now that I had, I wondered if he was the only one who actually stayed in YGGDRASIL when it shut off. Maybe he was just as alone and confused as I was.

I walked forward with muffled footsteps and got closer to the legendary Throne of Kings when I took notice of the forty one banners that hung around it. One for each guild member. I stopped on Momonga's which sat closest to the throne and just stared at it before looking over to the pure black obdsidian throne. The damn thing alone was just as impressive as the room.

I took another step closer to it wondered briefly if they'd sense someone else sitting in it. The chair looked surprisingly comfortable and after giving another look around, everything in the chamber looked like it was facing it. Tailor made for being a seat of power.

"Of course the NPCs would sense someone else sitting in it." I thought, putting that idea back in the trash where it belonged. Deciding it was best just to wait out for now, I sat myself down on the floor and waited. Soon, Momonga would be back any minute and then we could finally talk this shit out.

Time passed though. A lot of it. I didn't have my watch on me so I could be exactly sure how much but I could tell. Momonga or someone should've been here by now. Unless he was about to do something.

Suddenly, I heard a door open from some far flung corner of the room. Keeping my cool I slowly walked behind a column just in case and began to listen for anything in particular.

"Interesting, so the man who fought Reina, Remna, and presumably Shalltear has crossed paths with Nazarick before." A strange raspy almost spider like voice said as their footsteps echoed.

"Yes, he's the same man that Lord Ainz and I came across back on our mission to E-Rantel." A femine voice that I recognized as Nabe agreed.

"And what did you make of him?" The man asked.

"Honestly, he didn't seem to stand out that much from the other humans but after our bout, I got the impression that he was holding back. And with what's happened to Shalltear, perhaps considerably so."

"Indeed, and if this Haon is actually from YGGDRASIL like Reina and Remna say then it would be best to tell Lord Ains once Shalltear is dealt with."

"Dealt with?" I thought. That didn't sound good.

"So you believe he was telling the Brides the truth?" Nabe asked.

"From they described yes. Though his behavior of fighting the two then semi healing them is confusing." There was a brief pause as I assumed the male began to ponder. "Lord Ains himself seemed to be surprised when arrived in this new world. I imagine a lowly human like Haon was doubly so after coming here and perhaps he seeks to win Lord Ains favor."

"Will we offer it?" The woman asked.

"I fail to see why he would. Confused or not, Haon has declared himself an enemy of Nazarick with his attack on Shalltear and the Brides and should be rightfully treated as such."

"Fucking beautiful. I try to be a nice guy and it doesn't help at all." I mentally growled frustrated. As their footsteps continued across the room, I peaked my head around the column to see two figures standing just outside of another door.

"That will be all for now Narberal. I or Lady Albedo will contact you for anything else."

"Understood."

Albedo. I recognized the name of the woman who Momonga brought with him for scouting out Shalltear. The woman would lead me right to him if he wasn't there already. I creeped up closer to the duo just as a man in a crimson suit and bladed tale began to disappear behind a door that would doubtless begin to close any second. I caught glimpse of a woman in a maid outfit that reminded me of the one Shalltear had been traveling with and saw why she was so familiar. So Nabe had been working for Ainz the entire time and Momon….Momonga. That part wasn't hard to piece together.

I slithered around her taking care not to somehow tip her off and slipped through the door just as it finally shut behind me. This room really contrasted with the throne chamber. It felt more like an associate's lounge with close to a dozen chairs and couches surrounding the center where two figures sat waiting for Demiurge. The giant insectoid warrior from outside and a succubus looking woman wearing practically the same garb Reina and Remna had. Again, looks sexy but I fail to see how that helps in combat.

There was a real tense atmosphere to the three. Like something big was about to go down and I would be correct. A small window portal hovered in the air, showing Momonga in a brown cloak walking through the woods.

 _"Great. So this was a complete waste of time_." I thought inwardly smacking myself in the head.

"Now then, care to tell me what's going on?" Demiurge asked taking a seat besides Albedo.

"You already know the answer to that." Albedo replied. "Everything you need to know was said by Lord Ains over a message."

"I was referring to why you let him leave without support." He specified.

"It was the master's call. I simply obeyed it. As I hope you intend to."

"Why did you not protest?!" Demiurge asked clearly confused. "We could've sent in minions in case this is a trap. If all the Guardians fought together there isn't a force that could stop us.

"I couldn't begin to guess the reason behind his decision, but it is obvious lord Ains is lying to us. Don't pretend you didn't notice it."

"Yes, you are right."

"Then why did you let him leave without support?!" Demiurge yelled clenching his fists. "When Lord Ains opted to go to E-Rangel without support you strongly objected to it. So why would you possibly ok with him doing the same thing now?"

"Because he was adamant about defeating Shalltear with his own too hands." Albedo replied. A smile then grew across her lips that for one reason or another scent a shiver down my spine."His determination was intense. And as a woman, seeing my love so resolute I couldn't bring myself to oppose him any further. It may have been irreverent of me but I decided I don't really care."

 _"So just to be clear, being unbelievably stubborn was actually a turn on for women? Christ, was I raised wrong_." I thought amused by her statement.

"So you based your decision on emotion rather than logic." He growled. "Did you forget he's the last of the Supreme Beings?! It is our duty to keep him from danger. Even if that danger comes from his own actions."

Holy shit. This guy was serious.

"He may scold or even kill us for it. But we must do something!" He stood up.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm sure it's obvious…" He began before a large axe thrust itself in front of him.

Coincidentally, I was standing right under it when it started coming down so had to leap out of the way and roll behind one of the couches that littered the room.

"So, this is why you ordered me down here."

"That's correct."

"You're a fool! What if lord Ains perishes? Are you prepared for the consequences of that outcome?! We pledged our loyalty to him. Once he's gone there will be no one left to serve!"

"He will return to us. I'm sure….."

"YOU CAN'T POSSIBLY KNOW THAT!" Demiurge screeched rather loudly causing me to rub my ears in annoyance.

"Got some lungs on ya. Jesus…." I thought to myself.

"You should have faith in your master." She glared back to Demiurge coldly. "As a guardian is that not also one of your duties."

That seemed to get to him, he froze a few seconds before gritting his teeth and sitting back down. "Fine. I will not intervene. But if something happens to lord Ains I will insist that you step down as leader of the guardians.

"Okay. So Succubus is leader of the floor guardians. Neat." I said giving another look her direction and hoping she didn't return it.

"That's blasphemy Demiurge." The big guy growled speaking for the first time since I got here.

"It's fine Cocytus." Albedo replied though keeping her eyes on Demiurge. "That would make the most sense after all. But I have faith." Her eyes then turned to the big blue warrior. "What do you put our lord's chances at?"

He responded quickly. "Three to seven. Three in lord AinZ' favor."

Albedo kept her light smile but I did notice her postures tensed up a bit at the odds. Clearly not liking them. "I see. Then let us watch as the battle unfolds." Her eyes shifted back to the portal. "And watch our master beat the odds.

I finally stared at the portal myself as I processed everything I had learned. So Momonga was going out to some how force Shalltear out of her trance. That made sense I guess. I had a hunch Shalltear was far more powerful than I had glimpsed but to hear these guardians say his chances were that low was a little shocking.

I mean sure, Shalltear is probably a hell of a force to confront when she's at her full power and I'm not sure if I could come out on top if I used my own. But I had fought both of them now and from what I could guess. Ains was the clear favorite.

The battle would later go on to prove my point. I'm sure you know exactly how it went but if not, I'd highly recommend reading my other work Conquests of Ains Ooal Gown to paint a better picture. But if not, allow me to summarize the battle as it played out.

You see, Shalltear had the advantage in power. And from what I saw as the fight dragged on, she was no fool when it came to fighting. She was quick witted and could try new things on the fly. A truly deadly combination to anyone except for Momonga.

Out of all the members of Ainz Ooal Gown that I had met, and I had met a few. He stood out to me the most. Not because of his skills, or even the fact that he was guild leader. The most striking thing about him and the most dangerous was his strategical skills. If you were a possible enemy, he learned everything he needed to know about you. How you fought, what you fought with, your strategies, your backup strategies, if possible he never showed up to a fight without having a nearly full proof plan to win it. You could fight your hardest and damage him sure, but that wouldn't be enough. No to beat him you needed to think purely outside the box. To be as unpredictable as possible and Shalltear, despite all her strengths, was fairly predictable if you survived long enough to notice it.

Minutes passed and from what I saw, Momonga hadn't lost a step. Hell, he may have even gained some. Having gained the weapons of all his former teammates, he proceeded to throttle Shalltear completely, leaving absolutely no room for doubt who was the victor of their fight before finally finishing the job and the whole mirror portal was drowned out in a bright white light.

"It's finished." Cocytus sighed in as much awe as the other two doubtlessly were. Honestly watching their faces throughout the fight and their attempts at predicting was kind of fun. Especially when Momonga brought out his teammates weapons. They were probably just as surprised as Shalltear had been.

"Indeed." Demiurge nodded in agreement. He looked over to the still seated Albedo and bowed his head. "I owe you an apology Albedo."

"You owe me no such thing." She replied standing up. "In truth I was worried just as much as you and it took everything I had not go out after him."

"I see." Demiurge spoke as a small smile passed between the two. "Well in any case, we best get started on transporting the gold to the throne room."

"Agreed." Albedo said moving after Demiurge and Cocytus to another doorway that probably led to the treasury.

I was confused at first. What on earth would they need gold for? The answer came pretty quick as I remembered you could resurrect someone if you had enough of it. Kind of a metaphor for the rich if you ask me but that's neither here nor there. I thought about following but decided to head back to the throne room and once again waiting it out for Ains. I picked myself up just as the trio of guardians disappeared behind another door. I creeped back to the one I had walked through and opened the door.

I froze when outside I nearly ran into Nabe or Naberal as she was actually called who stood directly in front of the door. Her eyes went right through me as she tried to figure out how the door had opened and sidestepped quickly as she nearly walked into me.

"My lords?" She asked to the empty room clearly confused as I could practically feel her guard rising. Thankfully a new voice called out to her from outside.

"Naberal, they need us down in the treasury."

Naberal looked around yet again glancing past me another two or three times before coming back out. I followed and dove out of the way just as she turned to close the door behind her. She nodded to her fellow maid and moved to follow but I could tell she knew something was up.

 _"Damn it Momonga, get your ass back here_!" I ordered biting my tongue in annoyed nervousness.

Once again, I waited around the throne room though this time I did get to watch other NPCs carry in ton after ton of gold. So that passed the time better. Soon enough there were mountains of gold inside the throne room and I was standing rather awkwardly close to the throne as several guardians and maids talked to each other eagerly awaiting their lord's return.

Again I would've rather talked to him alone but I was getting to fed up with waiting. Besides, I was getting hungry and honestly I felt so good that I wasn't even worried about being spotted.

Then it happened, the door directly across the chamber from me opened and three figure entered the room, two smaller familiar looking elves and one large cloaked skeleton who looked exactly the same as the last time we met face to face close to probably two years ago. Every conversation ended as he strolled closer and closer to the throne to where he was standing directly in front of me and turned around to face his subjects

"Everything is ready then?" He asked. A series of nods went through the onlookers. "Good, now we can try to resurrect her. Albedo watch her name while I perform the ritual. If she's still under mind control when she returns, I may have to do the unspeakable."

"Don't worry about it." Demiurge spoke up. "If that comes to pass we will be the ones to act."

Another round of nods rolled through the room as Ains hesitated. Only after a swift conversation with Albedo did he agree.

"We won't fail you. All we ask is that you stay by our side. It's far too lonely when no one is here." She said bowing her head.

Well that statement was a punch in the get. It looked like it was to Ains as well as he looked up to the flags of the other forty one members. "You're right. It's lonely when everyone else is gone."

For the first time since I got here, I thought about my own guild mates and wondered if I'd ever see them again. I'd promised I would but with everything that's happened now, I in all likelihood might not be able to. My trance was broken when the spell was cast.

"Shalltear, Resurrect!" Ains commanded as a bright energy force emitted from the staff and spread out all over the room. The countless gold pieces began to liquify and run towards the center of the room becoming small and smaller and taking the shape of a small humanoid form. The gold's color began to fade becoming paler and paler as more distinct features on the body appeared before finally disappearing and hardening back into solid skin. Shalltear was once again amongst the us though my feelings about it were a little mixed. On one hand, she was still the monster I had fought but on the other, she looked nice naked so I wasn't too mad.

"Albedo."

"Be at ease lord, she's no longer in revolt."

"Wonderful." He sighed in relief. He then did a ridiculously cool spell that pulled a fabric out of the air and threw over Shalltear's body as she began to move and wake.

"Shalltear, can you hear me?" Ains asked as the vampire opened her eyes.

"My lord?" She asked back far more tired then when I had met her. But that was be expected, she'd been dead after all. After a brief hug between the two and almost turned sexual with the lack of clothes, it was revealed she couldn't remember why or how she had been mind controlled. That's when things started to pick up real quick.

"What's the last thing you remember?" Ains asked to the sitting vampire.

"Well, I was hunting humans in the woods an…" Her voice faded as her eyes widened in realization before clenching her fist. "Haon."

Ok, so she remembered my name at least.

"Haon?" Ains replied clearly surprised by the name. "You met him?"

"Yes. He and I fought after he soundly defeated Reina and Remna." She said lightly rubbing the same eye I had stabbed during that battle. "He was more resourceful then I had imagined."

"Is he the one who cast the spell on you?" Demiurge asked.

"Spell?" She asked back seemingly not remembering. "No, the last thing I remember was chasing him through the mines then the forest. "What spell are you talking about?"

"My lord, you seemed to recognize the name. Is he familiar with you?" Demiurge asked over to Ains.

"Naberal and I met him out on the road to E-Rantel. Why ask that?"

"Because, according to Reina and Remna. He's also from YGGDRASILl."

The silence that engulfed the room was almost laughable. Everyone just sort of stopped breathing at the same time and froze for almost half a minute. No better time then for me to reveal myself.

Now I couldn't just spring up behind them. That would probably get me killed at once. So I would have to wiggle my way past the surprised figures back to the far end of the throne room close to the main entrance. Before I could do that though, I looked over to Mare who looked like he just straight up wanted to die as he clenched the fist where his ring should've been. No doubt realizing that it wasn't the same one Ains had given him. And the nice guy in me kicked in. I looked down to the ring I had taken off him. It would be completely retarded for me to give it back.

"M-My lord?" Mare squeaked up to the still frozen skeleton. Ains looked over to his guardian.

"I uh, I-I…." He looked completely ashamed as he fumbled over his words. He looked down to his hand taking a deep breath to say whatever he meant before stopping. The ring that he had supposedly lost was still wrapped around his finger. He stammered continued though now much less depressed and a more shocked. "B-But…How….."

"Mare, what is i…"

I clapped one single time from behind a column as I took of my camouflaged mask and deactivated the Suit's ability, getting the attention of every guardian and maid in that room. Each had their guard up and were looking all around the chamber when I finally became visible again. With a deep breath I turned and walked back out to the center of the chamber. Each one of the guardians had a different reaction.

Shalltear stiffened and looked like she was ready to claw my eyes out.

Albedo glared daggers at my face from across the room as she moved closer to Ains.

Demiurge straightened his glasses.

The dark elf twins just looked shocked.

Cocytus didn't portray and facial features but if I had to guess he readied himself for a fight.

And all of the battle maids scowled especially Naberal.

"Momonga." I said in as close to a greeting tone I could come to. "I'd like to talk to you."

* * *

 **A/N: Tada! Like I said, just keep going. All will be explained**.


	10. Haon the Idiotic

I'm sure if you're still reading this, you've no doubt called bullshit on my infiltration into the most secure tomb known to man. And you'd be right. No man, beast, magical creature or otherwise should be able to sneak into that tomb let alone steal a ring from a high ranking guardian whose detect skills is at least one hundred. You see, the problem with telling this story myself is that I can only describe what happened to me in my point of view. But due to the shock and doubtless anger some of you probably share, allow me to give you Ains' version of events that led up to the, ahem "infiltration."

I told you all Ains' gift for strategy was unparalleled. So it shocks me none of you thought that I made into the temple only because he allowed it to be so. We'll start when we spilt up in E-Rantel. Keep in mind that I can't speak to these events myself but after doing a some research this is what I managed to piece together.

* * *

 _"You knew Haon my lord?" Nabe asked._

 _"I do." Momon replied walking beside Hamsuke who seemed content to just glare out towards the torches of the city. "He's a warrior from Yggdrasil. One that I fought a time or two."_

 _"So an enemy." Nabe concluded._

 _"Not necessarily." Momon answered. "When we did fight it was during the tournaments Yggdrasil sponsored every now and again. Outside those, he seemed a decent man though we've never held a particularly long conversation. You remember your brief scuffle?"_

 _Nabe thought back to said fight and remembered the hand Haon had offered afterwards._

 _"He seems honorable. At least for a human." She concluded. But if he isn't an enemy what is he then my lord?"_

 _"Proof that we're not the only ones who were brought to this new world." Momon replied._

 _"I see." Nabe said understanding. "But if Haon is really from Yggdrasil why didn't you tell him who you were?"_

 _"Because I don't want to discuss that information out in the open. I intend to to do it only from Nazarick itself." Momon said as the pair walked continued their walk through the streets en route to Nferia's lab._

 _"You intend to capture him?" Nabe asked._

 _"If necessary. After we assist in anything else Nferia has we'll scour the city to find him." Momon said just as they came into view of Nfeira's lab._

* * *

Of course if you know of Momon's exploits you know this is where the army of the dead attacked E-Rantel and threw a wrench into Momon's plans. According to my knowledge he didn't speak of me again until after he found out what happened to Shalltear. It turns out I'm not as good at stealth as I thought.

* * *

" _The security level of Nazarick has to be raised to maximum and every guardian needs to come home immediately."_

 _"Yes, lord. Aura will join us after she gathers the Vampire Brides."_

As I panicked and ran back to Brain, Ains and Albedo teleported back to Nazarick and there the conversation turned to to me.

" _You sensed him?"_

 _"It was obvious." Albedo nodded. " All he did was hide behind a tree. He's the one you and Naberal met?"_

 _"He is." Ains admitted._

 _"Sir, if you wanted him why not simply capture him then and there. He could be the one behind Shalltear's revolt."_

 _"He isn't." Ains said turning back to her. "Shalltear is under the influece of exceptionally powerful magic. And from what I remember about Haon, he can fight magic and use magical items but as a warrior he can't cast it. Especially such a high level spell that currently enslaves Shalltear."_

 _"But why is he out there then? It can't be coincidence."_

 _"I don't think it was either." Ains replied. "I'll save that for when I ask him. But for now, we have a bigger problem to deal with in Shalltear. All my attention needs to be on her."_

 _"I understand my lord. But….." her thought was cut off when she received a new message._

 _"Albedo?"_

 _"Aura just found the Brides. She says that a new figure is coming back towards the camp. Haon."_

 _Ains grumbled before an idea shot up inside his cranium. Much to Albedo's surprise._

 _"My lord?"_

 _"Tell Aura to leave some tracks for Haon to follow. With a little luck, he might just bring himself to Nazarick."_

 _"Yes lord. But how are we going to deal with him and Shalltear at the same time?"_

 _"Order Mare down to the treasury when he gets back with his sister. I have an idea." Ains replied as he and Albedo teleported down to it._

* * *

You starting to piece it together yet? It took me a while to come to terms with it myself and I knew Ains was a master planner. He knew every single little thing I was going to do before I knew it. You want further proof? This happened down in the treasury _._

* * *

" _Mare." Ains greeted._

 _"H-Hello lord Ains." Mare said with a light bow. "What is it you desire?"_

 _"The ring I gave you." Ains replied fairly quickly._

 _Mare's eyes widened and he looked down at his hand where the ring of Ains Ooal Gown sat. "My l-lord. I'm s-sorry if l-let you down….."_

 _"No no. It's not that." Ains quickly replied with a hand wave. Mare looked back up confused as Ains continued. "A player from Yggdrasil is on his way here."_

 _"The one you told Aura to leave tracks for?"_

 _"Yes. If what I know about him is correct he won't just surrender himself outside the gates or fight through it. He'll try to infiltrate Nazarick._

 _"But my lord, that's impossible. None of the guardians would ever….." Mare started._

 _"I want you all to let him in." Ains replied. "Specifically I want him inside the throne room when I return._

 _"But, my lord why?"_

 _"Because, I need answers and he might very well have them. And if on the chance he does fight. I want him locked in the tomb with no hope of escaping."_

 _"But couldn't we just throw him in the dungeons?"_

 _"He's done no harm to us yet as far as I know. And intend to return the favor, at least for now." Ains replied._

 _"O-Oh. I see." Mare said tilting his head down. "But why do you need the ring back?"_

 _"I want him feeling confidant. To feel as if luck was on his side from the beginning. Which he's going to feel after he runs into you and Aura on your way out of the temple and sees a ring that can teleport him all around Nazarick."_

 _"But my lord, how would he know about that?"_

 _"Because, I'm going to start shouting it from the rooftops when I sense him." Aura yelled from behind her brother causing him to nearly trip in surprise._

 _"Correct. Aura's detection skill is second to none. And if Haon acts like I think he will he'll jump at a chance to steal a short cut."_

 _Mare began to fully grasp the plan before looking puzzled yet again. "But if that's true, why do you still need the ring back?"_

 _"I've created a new ring that acts as a one way portal to the throne room. That way once Shalltear is taken care of, and we finally meet he won't get any ideas about leaving. You really expect me to just let him keep a ring of Ains Ooal Gown?"_

 _"N-No. My lord." Mare said once again bowing his head and handing him his ring._

 _"Good. Once inside the throne room, he'll be under the watch of the Pleiades the entire time. If he tries to do anything, they'll know about it." Ains replied taking the ring and handing Mare the new one way one._

 _"Don't worry, you'll get it back after this nonsense is concluded." Ains replied. Mare's eyes lit up as he thanked him._

 _"Now, gather the World Items from Pandora's Actor.. Haon will be here any minute and I need to make a few last minute preparations for Shalltear._

 _"Yes sir." Mare and Aura answered with a bow before taking off. Ains then to looked back to Albedo who remained behind him the entire time._

 _"If he does start a fight with the Pleiades, I want you to end him." Ains ordered._

 _"Yes my lord. But what about Demiurge and Cocytus? I've ordered them to meet me in one of the rooms where we'll watch the battle. They'll surely sense something._

 _"Cocytus already has his orders to let him pass through the entrance. Demiurge will be filled in by Naberal when he gets passed the eight floor. Once inside though, unless he does something harmful, act like he isn't there."_

 _"Understood. My lord."_

 _"Good. Now come with me, I want to show you something." He said turning just as Albedo followed._

* * *

You get it now? I never had a chance. And if I had done the slightest thing different, odds are I would've been killed. That's Ains' true power if you ask me. Not his spells or items. His mind. A mind that rarely makes mistakes and if ones occur they are quickly corrected. He's the player and we're all his pieces. Now sure, you can recognize yourself as a piece and try to rise past your position on the board like I did but odds are you'll never be more than that.

And as I stood there, in the throne room surrounded by the might of Nazarick. That's when I first realized how low of a player I was.

"Haon. Good to see you again." Ains replied. Shalltear looked confused by the recognition.

"Likewise. Ains." I said. "I take it I've taken you guys a bit by surprise."

"Not really." Aura replied. "Though I think its cool you gave Mare back his ring."

That threw off my plans. "Uh, what?"

"I think you've seriously overestimated your stealth." She replied with a grin. "You've got a good suit sure but all it does is make you invisible. You still smell like a human."

"Wait, so…you knew I was here?"

Aura and Mare, looked over to each other and laughed as a series of smirks grew along the faces of the guardians. Ains himself chuckled a bit at my confusion.

"Of course we did." He said. He then explained to me the same what I just told you. And just like that all my confidence that had accumulated since I'd been inside this temple vanished. And I was reminded just how good Ains was.

So I laughed. An action that threw off some guardians like Albedo, Demiurge, and Shalltear.

"Well, fucking fantastic." I said calming down. " I'm kind of shocked you actually remembered me from Yggdrasil though. I didn't exactly have your reputation."

"Lucky for you. Otherwise you'd never make it past the front gate." Ains replied with a certain lack of humor.

"Fair enough." I agreed. "So, what happens now?"

"That's entirely up to you." Ains replied sitting down on his throne. "The Pleiades will disarm you. And we can talk peacefully. Refuse and you can get better acquainted with both the Pleiades and floor guardians of Nazarick. I warn you though, starting a fight with them is the fastest way to the grave."

The looks from the guardians definitely showed they wanted me to pursue the second option and the warrior in me considered it just for the possible fight but there was no real debate. I slowly raised my hands in a sign of surrender.

"Ok. Ok. You got me." I replied. Ains stared for a moment before nodding his head. The next second three maids appeared around me and began taking away pretty much everything I had. Shadow Suit. Jade. My cloak, my pack, my daggers, my shoes, my necklaces, and hell they even took my socks. While this was going on, and now pretty much assuming I was gonna die any second, I figured I'd make some conversation.

"Good fight by the way. Ains and Shally."

"You saw that did you?" Momonga asked slightly amused. "Shally?"

"Right. Uh Shalltear." I corrected not wanting to disrespect one of his NPCs while in his presence. "How you doing by the way?" I asked over to her. "Glad you remembered me."

"Oh I remember you vividly. Particularly how you ran away like a coward." She replied through gritted teeth.

"Naturally." I replied. "And I'm impressed you saw me run. You had one good eye." I replied with a wink that caused her to emit a low growl. "Give Reina and Remna my regards as well."

"So you did run into Shalltear." Cocytus said. "How exactly?"

"Ask the blonde maid. I assume she's here somewhere." I said looking around for a blonde head of hair that didn't seem to be there.

"Explain." Ains suddenly ordered in a tone that meant I shouldn't delay.

"Look, after we split up in E-Rantel, I heard about a group of guys who were planning on kidnapping a blonde rich woman out on the road. I figured out where and decided to help her out. Low and behold."I glanced over to Shalltear who hadn't stopped glaring at me since I revealed myself. "That's where I met her."

"Shalltear, is that true?" Ains asked over to the newly revived vampire. She looked up to him then back to me.

"Yes it is. He seemed a useful warrior after he defeated Reina and Remna so I decided to make him a servant of Nazarick. Until he escaped into the mountain."

I was a little shocked when Shalltear spoke the truth. I was half expecting to say I had attacked her from out of the blue like the other bandit. But hey, maybe she was more honorable than I thought.

"Hmm." Ains said curling a finger down under his chin in a thinking motion. He then turned his attention back to me as the maids finally backed away with all my stuff in their hands leaving me in my undershirt and boxers. "So you coming across and fighting Shalltear was a simple coincidence?"

"I didn't seek her out if that's what you mean." I defended. "Nor do I have a clue what happened to her after I lost her. If I had I might have helped."  
Shalltear broke out into a cold laugh and I couldn't hide a smile myself. "Ok maybe that's a bit pushing it. She did try to kill me. I wouldn't mind helping the Brides though. We got along ok."

"Yes, they told us about that." Albedo spoke up speaking directly to me for the first time. "Explain why you captured them."

"I thought they could lead me straight to you guys. I was kind of hoping you knew why we were brought here from Yggdrasil."

"Yes, but they say you helped them return to consciousness." Albedo specified.

"Well yeah. I figured since I had fought Shalltear by accident I could make it up by returning Reina and Remna unharmed…..ish." I continued. "But if you don't mind. Can you please tell me what the hell is going on here?"

"You think I know?" Ains asked.

"Dude, you're the head of the most powerful guild in the game. If anyone would know it's you." I pointed out.

"The game?" Albedo asked now thoroughly confused as similar looks began to grow on the faces of the NPCs.

"Uh..." Ains's voice suddenly cracked in what sounded faintly like panic. He glanced around the room before his sockets stayed on Demiurge who looked like he just came to an epiphany.

"May I explain it to them my lord?" Demiurge asked.

"You may." Ains quickly folllowed.

"At once my lord." Demiurge said with a slight bow. "This game terminology is meant for lord Ains and the other Supreme Beings. It is a way of illustrating how trivial all of Yggdrasil was compared to their glory."

I nearly fell over in shock at that save. This guy was a good talker.

"After all, why would anything in Yggdrasil or even in this new world be more than a game to Lord Ains?" Demiurge asked bowing his head once again.

The other guardians seemed more than convinced by that explanation. Much to my surprise and if I had to guess, Ains' himself.

"Very good uh, Demiurge." Ains spoke to his red suited demon who grew a small appreciteive smile. "Now. Leave us for now. I want to speak with our guest alone."

A series of affirmative nods swept through the room in complete obedience.

"I'm so confused." Shalltear replied standing up and wrapping the blanked around herself.

"Don't you start! Do you have any idea what lord Ains had to do?!" Aura asked smacking her behind the head.

"His heart went through such trauma trying to get you back!" Cocytus added on.

"But what did I do?!" Shalltear's voice echoed as other voices of disapproval spoke up.

The last one to leave was Albedo who still looked at me in almost the exact same way Nabe had when we first met. I bit back an insult that threatened to leap of my tongue and just settled for a wink in her direction to annoy her. It worked as she turned with a huff as the door finally shut behind her.

Now alone with Ains, and wondering what the hell gonna happen next I decided to make the first point.

"So uh, they don't know about that?"

"Why would they?" Ains replied. "Yggdrasil is all they've known. To them this is reality."

"Fair enough. And I guess it is for us now too." I replied chuckling before looking back up to the flags that still hung throughout the room. "Anyone else make it?"

"Not to my knowledge." Ains replied also looking up. "I hope that I'll find them somewhere out there but as time goes on…." His voice droned off as the thought more than likely depressed him.

"I bet you would have preferred you ran into TouchMe or HeroHero rather than me right?"

"You have no idea." Ains freely admitted. "But you're here now. And you're right. We really need to talk."

He ordered me over with a hand wave and like a peasant groveling before a king, I obeyed walking closer until I was right at the stairs to the throne.

"So Haon. I believe a proper introduction is in order. Momonga is no more. You stand before Ains Ooal Gown now."

"Right. Well I guess I'm Haon the….." I started to say handsome but I figured a different term would be more appropriate ,in light of what really happened. "Idiotic. Haon the Idiotic at your service."

Ains chuckled at the name as I hopefully started off on the right foot. "I think Haon will be just fine for now."

Great. Well at least I could talk to someone who was in the exact same predicament. Granted he had and entire tomb brought with him, a few hundred NPCs, god knows how many powerful weapons, and a few others who would probably love to see me dead.

But hey it was a start.

* * *

 **A/N: There you are. I hope that puts thing into a bit of perspective. I knew damn well I'd get a little pushback on last chapter and here's hoping it makes a little more sense now. Anyway, I think that'll do it for now.**

 **See ya guys later.**


	11. Ains and Narberal

So, now that I had found the only other person I knew was trapped in this new place like I was. The really awkward part had to be done. I needed to start talking to him. Now I know that doesn't seem like a hard job. I can talk bark off a tree after all. But the thing was, I really was at this guy's mercy, with no weapons, no items, and heck two pieces of non magical clothing covering my non magical skin covered skeleton. He meanwhile sat across from me on the most intimidating throne ever created, ordained in royal garments that would make a king jealous, a doubtlessly powerful golden staff safely by his side floating in the air, his sockets where eyes should've been seemingly staring right through me. After a moment or so thinking he would be the first to speak, I realized he wouldn't.

"So, no clue how this happened to us?" I asked.

"None worth sharing." Ains replied in what sounded like a sigh.

 **"Well of course you wouldn't share them**." I thought annoyed at myself for asking that obvious of a question. I needed to try and earn this guy's trust. "Look, we're not gonna get anywhere if you don't trust me." I said being very straightforward.

"Aren't we?" He asked tilting his head slightly in a slightly intimidating fashion. "I could get pretty far without trusting you."

"Well you could. Sure. I can't." I replied pointing towards myself.

"What makes you think I care about you?" He asked simply and quickly.

"You're reaction to me." I replied just as swiftly. His silence beckoned me to continue. "If you really didn't care about me or anything I did, you'd have just killed me by now or had your guardians do it."

"A good observation." He nodded. "But perhaps you know more than you're letting on. Perhaps you know why we're here and are simply playing me for a fool?"

"To what fucking end?" I asked letting my temper get the best of me. He betrayed no such emotion however and continued.

"There are many possibilities. Perhaps you wish to steal something from Nazarick, perhaps kill me and rule Nazarick yourself."

"Is this a game of hypo-fucking-theticals?" I replied my temper still steaming. Why the hell was he so damn suspicious of me? He's the one who looked like a skeleton demon. "I could give two thirds of a fuck about Nazarick or ruling it. I WANT TO GO HOME!" My last sentence echoed throughout the chamber for what seemed like minutes. I never broke my stare with him though. I stood there looking for pretty much anything on that skinless face of his that might betray some sort of emotion. "Don't you?" I asked.

He didn't speak at first as his gaze turned away from me and down to himself. He looked over his robes, then his bony fingers that lied on the throne's armrests. After a moment or so of that, he looked back over to me. "Nazarick is my home." He replied. It was short and brutally honest displaying no a hint of doubt or second guessing. And it pissed me off.

"The fuck you mean Nazarick is your home?!" I replied. "You must've had a life outside Yggdrasil. Friends, job, mom, dad, something. How do you think they feel about you just disappearing from their lives?"

"And you think the guardians of Nazarick are any different?" He asked keeping his calm demeanor. I paused, reigning my temper back in as I thought back to what Albedo said.

 _"It's far too lonely when no one else is here."_

I bit my lower lip, angry that I had forgotten about it. Ains meanwhile continued, his voice taking on the aura of a booming thunderstorm.

"Whether or not I had a life back on earth is none of your concern. All that matters is I'm needed here now. To defend the guardians, the Pleiades , and all who pledge their loyalty. To rule and safeguard Nazarick from anyone or anything that would wish it harm. That is my goal and that is what I intend to do until I die."

I stood there for the longest time not really certain of what to say. The idea of Ains not knowing how we got here was something I had prepped for but to hear he actually considered this place his home, that he preferred it over what used to be our reality. Well that was certainly unexpected. At least to me. Then again I wasn't the leader of the most powerful guild in the game's history so I guess that would've skewed my perspective.

I stood there quietly, not even looking at him at that point and just staring up to the various flags that hanged above us when I spoke again. "You know what? Fine." I growled. "You can just drop me back off outside the temple then." He tilted his head at my statement as I turned my gaze away from him. "Or don't." I added on. "Either way, this was a complete waste of time for me." I said sitting down on the stairs as depression seeped into my voice. "I thought if I met others, no matter how different we'd be, we'd all at least want to go home."

We sat in mutual silence for a while. I stared up at the ceiling wondering how screwed I actually was and he kept his gaze focused on that floating staff of his that I honestly didn't even care about at this point. My one plan was fucked and now god only knew what was going to happen now.

Oddly enough, he was the next to speak. "I understand your disappointment. And I'm sorry for it." He said in a strange voice of sympathy.

I waved my hand through the air. "Look, just forget it. Sorry for wasting your time too."

"On the contrary." He said putting a finger under his chin. "You proved that I wasn't the only player who got stranded here. So there must be more out there."

"You mean your friends?" I asked. He nodded.

"I do. Hardly a waste of time I'd say." He said once again seemingly pulling something out of thin air and tossing it to me. I caught the folded fabric and saw it as a pair of soft purple pants.

"Well, thanks for these at least." I replied slipping them on. "Any chance I could get my stuff back?"

"Not at the moment. You did sneak in here after all." He said standing up as the staff glided back into his hand.

"You just said you knew I was here the entire time. Sneaking my ass." I grumbled as he walked next to me.

"You enjoy swearing don't you?" He said with a small chuckle.

"I'm American. It's a lost art where I come from." I replied.

"Lost for good reason." He came back. "It's not exactly respectful.

"Oh please. It's just today's generations are complete pussies." I rubbed my head. "Much more associated with cross dressing then foul language.

"Crossdressing?" He asked confused at my meaning.

"The dark elf twins. Why the fuck are the crossdressers?" I asked back. He froze and looked back to me.

"If you're insulting…" He started, raising his voice.

"I'm not." I quickly defended. "They both seem likable enough it's just a question."

He calmed back down almost immediately and seemingly growing slightly embarrassed. "It was a…..quirk that Bukubukuchagama added when she created them."

"Quirk?" I asked back holding down a laugh.. He shrugged his shoulders signaling he didn't know the exact reason why. I gave up and followed.

"So, to the dungeons then?" I asked not really knowing where we were heading off to.

"Not unless you decide to do something foolish." He replied giving a side glance as he strode forward to a door. "Judging by your hair you looked like you could use a bath."

I gave him annoyed look before I ran my hand through my long hair still not quite used to it where I realized just how greasy it was. "Point taken." I sighed as he opened the door revealing a very familiar maid who if I had to guess had been standing out there ever since he had cleared the room.

"Narberal, escort Haon to an empty Nazarick bedroom. Don't let him out of your sight." Ains ordered to the woman I had previously known as Nabe.

"As you wish my lord." She replied bowing her head before looking at me. I looked back to Ains to temporarily avoid her cold gaze.

"Any reason for the sudden generosity?" I asked as he walked away to doubtless take care of some unfinished business with Shalltear.

"I want you out of my throne room. Be grateful." Was the only answer he gave as he vanished after activating his teleporting ring. I sighed just in time for Narberal to start moving herself in the opposite direction of her master.

"Come." She ordered. Not wanting to fall behind, I kept up walking maybe three feet behind her at all times as we moved through frankly gargantuan hallways.

"Well I can't imagine you're happy about this." I guessed.

"My feelings don't enter into duties. I accomplish them regardless." She spoke back detached.

"I didn't say they did. Just trying to make conversation, Nabe." I said slightly annoyed with her tone.

She stooped and turned back to me with an edge to her eyes and voice. "You will address me as Narberal until such time as lord Ains deems otherwise. Understood?"

"Okay. Okay." I replied raising my hands. "Sheesh. A little thin skinned aren't you?"

"What does my skin level have to do with what I just said?"

"Nevermind. Lead on Narberal." I replied. She immediately went back to it and we finally came to a large empty space at the end of the hallway with a single door there.

"This will be your confinement until stated otherwise. Be grateful lord Ains has seen fit to grant you these accomidations." She said pulling out a key.

"Don't worry I am. Also glad he let you guard me." I said as she twisted the key into the lock. "At least you and I talked a bit and we didn't try to kill each other."

"That can be amended if you threaten Nazarick in anyway." She quickly replied as the sound of moving locks came to my ears.

"Look, I don't fucking care about Nazarick all right. You can tell all your maid friends about that too." I replied now throughly tired off the insinuations.

She gave me a confused look, like I somehow was an enigma for saying that, as she finally opened the door. It was a modest sized living room with darkened ivory walls, light hazel colored hardwood floors, with a small black couch sitting in the center of the room next to a table, what looked like a kitchen with several pantries and maybe a stove. A second table with a pair of wooden chairs sitting next to a lively fire place that crackled and gave the room a nice warm air to it. The only other objects were doors standing at opposite ends of the room that probably led to a bed room and bathroom.

"So how's this gonna work? You waiting outside my door or something?" I asked stepping inside.

"Lord Ains' instructions were clear, I am to keep my eyes on you until other wise so I will be staying in here as well."

"Figures." I sighed before smirking. "Well I'm gonna take a shower so unless you want to join in….."

She scoffed at my attempt at humor. "You're lewd machinations are pathetic."

"Yeah, my ex thought so too." I replied agreeing with a light chuckle that masked a sad sigh as I thought back to her.

* * *

You know what's funny? For all the advanced technology back in the real world, I never once took a bath that felt as good as the one I took when I got to my room. After the initial disappointment of a lack of a shower, I found myself in a decent size hot spring pool feeling as if I had just reached Nirvana. As my body soaked in the warm water and the steam flew right by my face and to the ceiling, I thought about just what the hell was I going to do now. I figured staying with Ains was probably the best strategy long term. After all, even if our goals weren't aligned now, it didn't mean he couldn't change his mind later on. And since his home was more than likely the most secure building on the planet, I now had a safe house as long as I didn't do anything stupid.

Then came thoughts of fighting. I looked down toward my hands that sat comfortably in the water. If my luck held out and I wasn't killed in the next few days, odds were that they were going to have a use for me. And since I definitely didn't want to become some sort of male maid to them, I needed to become a better fighter. Or at least better with my non favorite weapon.

After pulling myself out of the bath, drying off, and slipping on a robe that hung nearby I walked back into the living room where Naberal stood.

"Kickass baths." I replied scratching my ears and ruffling up my hair.

" Nazarick has only the best." She replied int the tone of a salesman. "Be honored you are the first human to test it."

"You don't need to keep telling me things I already know." I replied. " Lighten up for god's sake." I took a look over to the kitchen and pantry. It'd really pushing my luck if it was actually full. So of course the pantry was stocked completely with what looked and smelled like freshly baked bread. No doubt due to some sort of magic. What's funny is that Narberal seemed surprised by it too.

"You want a sandwich? I asked over to her. Her surprise vanished in a flash.

" I don't require food to survive." She replied swiftly looking away.

"I didn't ask if you were hungry. I asked if you want a sandwich." I replied grabbing a loaf of unsliced bread.

" No. I do not." She replied once again confused by my words.

" Ok, suit yourself." I replied moving to grab an incredibly dull knife that still somehow cut through the bread rather effortlessly. Once I had four slices, I moved over to another pantry. This one filled with what looked like salted meats.

" Right, no refrigerator." I sighed grabbing a mound of salted ham from the shelf and also cutting through it. Little did I know, Naberal had been silently fuming at me while I made my snack.

"Haon….." She said rather loudly.

I looked over to her a little shocked by the utterance of my name.

" I will be frank with you. I don't enjoy you taking advantage of Ains generosity." She admitted with an obvious anger to her voice.

"Why not?" I replied sitting down on the couch with a pair of ham sandwiches in my hand. "You still not over the spar from a few days back?"

" You're an unknown to both the guardians and the Pleiades. And yet you were permitted inside Nazarick and even to address Lord Ains himself in the throne room. An honor no human should have."

" Okay, look I'm trying to eat here but if you keep up with the humans are garbage sentiments in front of me, we're gonna have a problem." I said with an annoyed edge to my voice. " I thought the Brides told you already."

"Ains made it clear you and he fought back in Yggdrasil but I'm confused as to how that doesn't make you an enemy."

"Because it was for fun." I replied. She only looked more confused by the sentence so I elaborated.

" Look the rest of Yggdrasil was a free for all where pretty much anything went, but the tournaments that were sponsored every now and again were a place where everyone, human and non human alike could meet, talk, laugh, and fight. It's where I first came across Ains and his guild back when I first started. And we all just sort of liked fighting." I said with growing nostalgia. "There's a difference between fighting for fun and fighting to the death after all."

Her confused face seemed to soften slightly as she began to grasp what I told her. I then decided I should a question in.

"Why are you such a bitch for?" I asked suddenly throwing her off.

"You're taunt means nothing." She replied.

" It was meant to mean nothing." I clarified.

"It was a swear word." She continued. "They are made to get some sort of ire out of another. Ladies Shalltear and Albedo use them all the time when they talk to each other."

After filing that little little detail for later, I raised an eyebrow to her. "Says who?" I asked back. "Right now off the top of your head, throw the best insult you have at me. See if I get pissed."

She raised an eyebrow of her own seemingly amused. " Why would I do that?"

"Because it's fun." I repeated. " Just of the top of my head I've got a several for you. Know it all Narberal, the blue haired bitch, the human hating whore, maid motherfuck, c'mon let's here what you got for me." I said placing my food on the table and rubbing my hands together excited.

Probably not the best reaction however as I soon noticed several sparks emitting form her hand as her face was engulfed in shadow save for a pair of now red angry eyes.

" Ah….too soon?I asked hesitantly just before the room was engulfed in lightning bolts.

By the time Ains came back, which may have been minutes or hours it was hard to tell, the once presentable living room, had been decimated and blackened by several lightning bolt shots and what few things had been in the room had now been broken or bruised severely. The couch and the table next to it had been completely flipped over. The fire snuffed out. Several black blotches littered the walls and floor and the once perfectly clean kitchen now seemed in ruins. I think he might've expected that part but what obviously shocked him was what he found next. His gaze spotted us sitting at the only other table in the room

"So you pale-faced, lightning lactating, bitch. What the fuck you got?" I asked glaring at her from across the table passed my now black food sitting atop it.

She glared as a string of thrown together words left her mouth. "Well, Haon the whoreson. You are a worthless, shit-gear wearing, overly confident, foul mouthed fucker." She finished with her voice taking on a strange relaxed tone to it that I hadn't heard before.

"You sure, you boner killing bimbo?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

"Quite, you self righteous son of shit eating….."

"Narberal!" Ains yelled shocked at the language she spewed. Her face immediately flushed and she backed up ashamed of herself.

"My l-lord….."

"What's the meaning of this?" He asked almost too shocked for his skeleton face.

"She's letting off some steam. " I said taking another bite of a very burnt sandwich. "You want to give it a try?"

"NO!" He yelled indignant as I got in a laugh at his expense. He sighed looking slightly sheepish as he looked around the room before returning his gaze to Naberal. "Was this a bad idea?"

"No milord." She said almost too quickly. "It was my fault. I let my guard down and shall atone with my life."

"That's not necessary!" He said just as fast as I got another good laugh from their exchange. "It's perfectly acceptable to wait outside his room. To avoid…situations like this."

"Understood my lord." She said with a low bow as she regained her composure. Ains nodded as he and she moved to the exit. He then gave a look back to me.

"You're cleaning this up."

"Worth it." I replied laughing and winking Naberal's way to say we can continue practice later.

The door closed in a loud bang and I could practically feel the sigh Ains must've let loose on the other side. I looked around taking in how bad the damage was before having another good laugh. Maybe I could actually have a little fun here.

* * *

 **A/N: Tada! I think that will do it for now. As always I appreciate your support and your criticisms. So lay it on me. Was it good? Bad? Leave a review and let me know**

 **Special thanks to PervySageChuck for being a badass Beta.**

 **See ya around.**


	12. Remembering

After cleaning up what I could in what I'm going to call my living room, I noticed those scorch marks weren't going to come out without a fight, so I decided to call it a day. I'd brushed death a little too many times to not have a little nap after all. I opened the door to my bedroom and took in the sight. It was a pretty simple sight. Really. Just a simple bed wrapped in dark purple sheets and held up by a stone framing. The room surrounding it was also rather plain looking for a fantasy MMO. Grim looking stone walls, a cold wood paneled floor, a small door built into the side for what I was sure was a smaller bathroom, and a few candles stuck either in sconces on the walls or on a few randomly placed five feet high candlestick holders. Simple, but I could work with it.

I plopped myself on the bed. It wasn't exactly soft but I couldn't complain. I liked a little firmness in my mattresses. Make of that what you will. I didn't bother putting myself under the sheets, opting to just lay there staring up at the stone ceiling until I passed out. For the first time since I got to this new world, I was blessed with a restful, peaceful sleep.

While I lay passed out in my room, the denizens of Nazarick went on with their usual business, though a few decided to make me a part of their conversations. Once again, I have to preface this with the fact that I wasn't there to witness said conversations, but then again you probably stopped believing this really happened a few chapters back.

* * *

"What did you make of him?" Shalltear asked over to the short orange elf who stood in the corner with a smile on her face.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Aura complained. "You're the one who apparently fought him?"

"I did fight him." Shalltear growled back, slipping into her signature red dress with an annoyed huff.

"Then how is he still alive?" Albedo asked back tapping a finger against the arm of the chair she was sitting in.

"Didn't you two hear the Brides? He fought with the Supreme Beings back in YGGDRASIL." Aura said not really getting the question. "Maybe he's a bit tougher then he's letting on."

"Really?" Albedo's tapping stopped. "Then why didn't I sense any power from him? A mere human who could fight with any of the Supreme ones would have some sort of air of power about him. This one had nothing!"

"I have to regrettably agree with the Succubus." Shalltear replied, appearing in front of them now fully dressed. "When we met in the wilderness, he didn't come across as intimidating in the slightest."

Aura put a hand under her chin thinking back to how they first saw Haon in the throne room. "Okay, maybe 'resourceful' is a better word for it. But then, why did Lord Ainz want to talk to him alone? That alone should prove he's hiding more power than what we've seen."

"Yes. And that's what concerns me." Albedo growled out. "If this Haon has Lord Ainz' attention, why hasn't he told us about him? Why doesn't he devote a strategy to dealing with him the same way he did with for dealing with the ones who enslaved the lamprey."

Shalltear opened her mouth to fire back at the insult but Aura spoke up just before. "Have you talked with Reina and Remna yet, Shalltear?"

Shalltear raised an eyebrow and Albedo did the same, remaining silent as she spoke. "Why would I?"

"They're the ones who spent the most time with him, I'd talk to them some more if you want to know about him." She said with a sigh that masked a slight intrigue.

"Is that what you plan to do?" Shalltear asked.

"When I feel like it." Aura replied crossing her arms and leaving the room. "In the meantime, I'm gonna go see what Mare's doing. You get your head squared straight."

"Did you just give me an order?" Shalltear called out.

"Do as you're told, lamprey." Albedo ordered, standing up from her chair. "Ainz has put more faith in you than I ever would have. Time to prove his judgment isn't mistaken and return to your duties."

Shalltear gritted her teeth while insulting Albedo under her breath with words I dare not write here. Albedo, smiling at Shalltear's annoyance, followed the dark elf out of the room. Closing the door behind them and chasing after her down the halls.

Shalltear looked down at herself and clenched her fist in fury. As much as it pained her to admit it, that loud-mouthed gorilla was right. She needed to once again prove herself to Ainz and Nazarick. And the first step to doing that was making sure she was still at fighting strength. "Reina, Remna." She snapped her fingers. The pair materialized before her, the heads bowed and awaiting their orders. "Come, we're going to the Amphitheater to train."

* * *

"Didn't Lord Ainz tell you to make sure Shalltear was okay?" Aura asked to her taller fellow guardian.

"You saw her. She seems to be doing fine to me." Albedo defended. "Besides, she has to prove herself to us once again. That starts with showing she can take care of herself."

"Whatever." Aura replied with a sigh. Stuffing her hands into the pockets of her tux. "So, what do you think of the human? Really, I mean?"

"Why are you so hung up on a human?" Albedo asked right back dodging the question. "So he met the Supreme Ones back in Yggdrsil. What does that mean to you?"

"Not much." Aura admitted with a blink. "What's got me confused is why he gave the ring back to Mare."

Albedo raised an eyebrow. "Why is that so suspicious? It was a fake after all."

"That's just it. He didn't know it was. No one could've." Aura replied, knowing that Ainz's craftsmanship was second to none. "And no sane human would've just given up an artifact that powerful. If anything, he would've kept it in case he realized we knew he was there."

"Okay, so he's an insane human." Albedo replied simply.

"That or just really odd." Aura threw her hands behind her head. "'I've never actually talked to one so I can't tell. Of course, I guess there's always the possibility he's just too nice... You gonna answer my question?" She looked over to the pale succubus and tilted her head waiting for an answer.

"He's an annoyance. Nothing more." Albedo huffed.

"If you say so." Aura sighed, seemingly disappointed by the answer. The pair continued their walk in silence before arriving at one of the many rooms that functioned as both an armory and blacksmith station. Inside they found Ainz and Mare looking over the various artifacts that Haon had on his person when he arrived in Nazarick.

"Is Shalltear adjusting well?" Their lord asked.

"Very well, lord. She seems to have returned to the lamprey she has always been." Albedo replied.

"It's like she never left." Aura continued before winking to her brother. "Turn the ring back over to lord Ainz?"

Mare shuffled his feet at his sister's gaze and gave a swift nervous nod. " Y-Yes. And he just gave me my old one back." Aura's eyes drifted over to his hand and saw the ring safely back around his gloved finger. She nodded and bowed her head to Ainz.

"Thanks, Lord Ainz."

"None are necessary." He replied waving his hand. "The both of you did excellent work. Now let's get down to business. Albedo?"

"At once, milord." She said opening a menu and reading through an old catalog that had been apparently scribbled down years ago by one of the Supreme Beings.

"Haon. Warrior class. Level 90. Member of the guild, Knight's Reign." A brief list of names flashed across the screen as Ainz and Albedo made mental notes of the stats for Karly, Hanks, Tommy, Plight and a few others who had left the game long ago. "Specialized in fetch quests, oddly enough. There's not much here about taking down dungeons or fighting monsters of great strength. All in all, he seems rather plain, save for his level."

* * *

"Never gonna give you up. Never gonna let you down. Never gonna run around and...desert you" I hummed to myself as I stretched. That nap did me a world of good if the smile on my face was indicative of anything. Plus it allowed me to really come to terms with everything that had happened in the past few days. From being sent to a new fantasy world that's as real as the one I had been living all my life to somehow surviving a botched infiltration of the deadliest tomb in existence. All of it combined gave me the impression that I'd actually done a fair bit since arriving in this world. And if I was going to find a way back home, I was probably going to have to do a whole hell of a lot more.

And the first thing was, get my stuff back and get Ainz on my side. He and I were the only players to have met so far and whether either of us liked it not, that meant something. Or at least it did to me. I won't claim to speak for the "Supreme One." I sighed at the title once again. If it hadn't already, that title was going to go to his head which only meant bad news for me if I say the wrong thing. Which if you've read this far, is something I have a tendency to do.

Skipping a breakfast sandwich, I looked over to see the still scorched black living room. An overall depressing sight to wake up to. Moving through it, I knocked on the door that led out of my generous cell. "Narberal, you still out there?" I called.

"What do you want?" came the immediate reply. As devoid of any warmth as it had ever been.

"You got a gym or something I can go to?"

"What?"

"You know, a gym? A place you go to work out or stretch your muscles?" I asked raising my voice a bit in case she didn't hear me.

"Whatever workout you wish to perform can be done from your cell. I assure you." Her annoyed voice came back with a cold edge. I blinked in mild surprise. Did she still think I was out to steal shit from Nazarick? I knocked again.

"For the hundredth time, I don't care about Nazarick!" I yelled making sure she could hear me. "Besides, the last work out kind of scorched up the living room and I'd rather not risk ruining it further until I get it fixed."

"Then fix it." Naberal replied simply.

I put up my hand again to knock before clenching it and chuckling. On second thought, breakfast was the most important meal of the day. And I always did like to talk while I eat. I'm not sure if she heard me go into the kitchen or not, but if she didn't I made damn sure she heard me drag a chair across the floor and right in front of the door. I sat down, with the plate of sandwiches on my lap and kicked the door with my feet.

"Hey, Narberal?"

"What is it, human?" She sighed.

"Haon." I corrected her. Taking a bite from the top sandwich. "You want some breakfast?"

"I do not require….."

"We've established that." I interrupted. "Do. You. Want. Some. Breakfast."

A few moments went by with no answer so I decided I needed to bring up something else to keep the conversation going. With an old group popping into my head, I smiled and asked.

"So are the other guys here too?"

"Who?"

"Y'know, the guys you and Ainz were traveling with when we met." I said wondering if she was that forgetful. "The mercenaries."

There was another bout of silence but I could've sworn I heard her feet shuffle uncomfortably behind the door I took that as a sign of further annoyance with my questions. "I'm guessing they were actually servants of Nazarick too, right?" I asked swallowing another bite. "Just figments of my imagination or something to make me a pawn in Ainz' plans for the future? Sounds like something he'd come up with."

Just then, the door opened and Narberal walked in with a small frown planted across her face. A rather sullen expression for someone who had really been almost statuesque since I'd met her. I blinked in surprise at both the action and her frown. "Hey, what's up?"

"The Swords of Darkness." She said reminding me of the group's name. "They perished back in Re-Estize."

It's hard for me to think why exactly I had the reaction I did. I hadn't known them particularly well or that long even. But nevertheless my mind went blank at the statement. My mouth crept into a grin as at first I thought she was messing with me. But it faded almost instantly as I knew she wasn't the type to do that. I looked away from her and down to the ground.

"God…that's uh…" I tried to come up with a joke to somehow make myself feel better but my mind was still rattled by the revelation that I could only ask more questions. "What happened?"

Her reply was disgustingly simple. "They faced an enemy that was too strong for them."

"You were with them!" I suddenly yelled out surprising myself with how emotional it sounded. "You and Ainz should've been more than capable to help….."

"We weren't there." Narberal interrupted. "When we got back, it was too late."

"Too late?" I asked with a cold laugh. "You're both mages! Why didn't you just…." My mind struggled to find the right words as I waved my hands around like a madman. "I don't know, resurrect them or something."

"Three of them were already undead before we could do anything." Narberal defended. " And there wasn't enough left of the girl to risk…"

"Girl?" I interrupted this time with a puzzled look before my eyes widened in horror. I put a hand across my forehead to try and fight back a growing headache. Looks like my first impression had been right. "Fucking Ninya…." I'm not ashamed a few tears threatened to leak out of my eyes then, but I quickly wiped them away. "So what? She was tortured?"

Narberal gave a quick emotionless nod and for some reason my blood began to boil. She had traveled with them at least a day longer than I had? So why was she so calm about this?! "Just how long were you two gone, huh?" I asked rather accusingly.

"Watch your tone, Haon." She warned narrowing her eyes.

"My fucking tone?!" I said standing up. "They were GOOD people! Why the hell are they dead? And tortured?! How the FUCK is that right?!" I yelled. "We were right there! You could've….I could've…" My voice trailed off and my fists started to clench up. I needed to hit something. I needed a fight. And I think Narberal could tell judging by what she said next.

"There is an Amphitheater you can go to but it will be under the strictest of guards and if you even move to escape…."

"Let's go." I growled out moving past her and out of my room.

* * *

"Looks like he was the highest level out of all of them." Aura yawned. Clearly not impressed by what she saw.

"S-So he's dangerous then?" Mare asked.

"Obviously." Ainz replied. "He's survived Shalltear and the Vampire Brides. It would be wise not to underestimate him. Albedo, what was the first time he came in contact with Nazarick?"

"The Black Dragon Battle Royale." Albedo replied as her eyes scanned through the record. "It seems he moved through the tournament remarkably. Well, until he faced Lord Touch Me."

"He faced Lord Touch Me and survived?" Aura asked, surprised by that particular fact. "Just what kind of human is he?"

"A well-equipped one." Ainz replied, moving past my cloak, knives, necklaces and finally to my pride and joy. My trusty pure green sword that almost always sat strapped to my back. Now laying in its leather sheath on the table before the Lord of Nazarick. "It seems he's kept Jade around."

"Jade?" Aura asked looking over it. "Kind of a plain name isn't it?"

"Perhaps." Ainz consented while looking over the weapon himself. "But make no mistake, this weapon is perhaps most responsible for how he managed to stand against myself and the other Supreme Ones."

As a wave of shock and surprise went through Albedo and the twins. Just then, Ainz received a message.

" _My lord?"_ Narberal's voice rang through his mind. Ainz put a hand up to his cranium to respond.

" _Narberal. How's Haon coming along?_ "

 _"Angrily, lord. He didn't know about the Swords of Darkness_."

 _"Ah."_ Ainz sighed. He himself had nearly forgotten about the fate of the mercenaries and was quick to realize that Haon must've not taken the news too well. _"So what is it you wanted to tell me?"_

" _He's requested use of the Amphitheater on the 6th floor...And I believe it is safe for him to use it. If you'll allow it, that is."_ Narberal finished after a moment's hesitation. Ainz was a little taken aback by the trust she had placed in the Nazarick's newest occupant but that didn't mean it was a bad thing. If Haon managed to gain even the tiniest bit of trust from the notoriously human hating Narberal, then he might have a brighter future here than he thought.

 _"I see."_ Ainz said with a hint of a chuckle. " _Very well, Narberal. I will trust your judgment. I'll be on my way to the sixth floor soon enough."_

" _Thank you, lord."_ Narberal replied before cutting out. Ainz lowered his hand and looked back towards the confused looks his servants were giving him.

"It appears our guest is going to the Amphitheater to blow off some steam."

"Is that wise, my lord?" Albedo asked as Ainz moved to the exit. "If he's to be a prisoner here, why allow him to do so?"

"Because, I plan to make him more than just a prisoner." Ainz replied. "He's yet to make a move against us and if it is true that he wishes Nazarick no harm, then I believe he can be a valuable pawn to have going forward. A replacement for my thwarted plans with the Swords of Darkness."

Albedo acknowledged the logic and followed her master out of the room, along with the twins who seemed more than a little excited at seeing the human again. "Shall I call for the Guardians to join us and get a proper education on our newest pawn?" She asked.

"If they wish." Ainz replied extending his hand out towards her. "They'll have to meet him eventually. Come." With a more than a light blush on her face, Albedo took her lord's hand and vanished in a white light. Aura and Mare did the same, on their way to the Amphitheater.

* * *

So turns out we didn't need to walk to the Amphitheater. Narberal grabbed my shoulder from behind and simply teleported us into the stadium with a ring Im sure Ainz has gifted her at something point precious to this. Despite the rage I felt at the moment, I allowed myself to feel a bit more than a speck of awe at the sight. I'm certain the design was based upon the original Roman Coliseum but I'm also certain that's where the influence ended, the stadium was a shimmering dark purple that seemed far more gothic in nature than Rome's ever was and the size of the stadium probably could fit four or five inside it as well as dwarf it in height by two or three times. Above us, a dazzling purple sky shone down with millions and millions of bright stars that seemed so real you'd almost forget you were in a tomb.

"You seemed shocked at the spectacle Nazarick contains." Narberal smiled as I refocused from what was no doubt an everyday sight to her.

"Hearing about it is one thing." I replied looking down from the balcony we had materialized on to get a better view of the ground. In the distance towards the other side of the stadium I saw a trio of figures engaged in what I guessed was a spar. "You let the others know we're here or something?" I asked over to Narberal.

She looked over in the same direction and her eyes widened breifly at the sight. One of the figures was clearly out classing the other two ducking and dodging past their swipes with little to no effort and giving back a decent amount that were far more effective. Narberal for her part recognized the dominant fighter immediately."Lady Shalltear?"

A monster sized grin spread across my cheeks. That was perfect. Who better to fight than people you already had history with? I looked back over to the trio correctly guessing the other two must've been Reina and Remna. And threw myself into the air. "SHALLY!"

My cry actually distracted Shalltear to the point of freezing her and allowing Reina's swipe to connect, causing her to stumble back maybe two steps. Reina immediately looked worried as did Remna and the pair paid me no mind as I landed a few feet away. Shalltear was blank faced as she straightened herself back out and rubbed her cheek. Her ruby eyes went immediately to me and a low snarl erupted from her mouth. "You."

"Me." I replied with a wave. "Reina, Remna. Good to see you're doing well."

The pair remained quiet save for a quick glance my way that gave the distinct feeling that I didn't have to worry about them holding grudges. Like they were a sort of 'live and let live' pair. Ironic, considering they were dead but definitely preferable to them hating me. Shalltear on the other hand still gave off the vibe that she wanted to torture me to death with a rusty fishing knife. "What are you doing here, Haon?" She growled.

"Wanting to punch something." I replied looking at her with a smile. "I see you're feeling the same." I took care to make sure Narberal was still in the vicinity and after seeing her still up in the stands, I continued. "What do you say to a little spar?"

Her growls ceased and a small evil smile graced her lips. "Well, feeling a little brave since Lord Ainz let you live? You'd be wise not to do something foolish with his chance."

"What's so foolish about a little spar?" I asked. "Let's have a fun little match and not try to kill each other." I said, knowing full well that I'd be the only one worrying about that.

Shalltear's smile got bigger as she too took notice of Narberal. The pair seemed to share a silent conversation that concluded with her looking back to me. "Okay. Perhaps at the very least, you'll prove more entertaining than these two." she said, flicking her wrist to motion the Brides out of the way. They did so without hesitation, much to my annoyance. Looks like they still needed to be taught some backbone.

I raised my fists as she remained perfectly still. "Want to really prove you're back to a hundred percent?" I asked her. Her confident look gaze broke at the question and I knew then that she hadn't really recovered from what happened to her. "Show me what you can do without your vampire powers. No tricks. No magic. Just some down and dirty, man to vampire fist fighting.

Her calm demeanor didn't change all that much at my words but I could tell she was stiffer than when we met back at the forest. That, combined with remembering that I had actually hurt her with that head-butt a few nights ago made me think that despite her having more physical strength than me, maybe the gap wasn't too big to cross. Especially now that I could hopefully fight her without risk of getting killed. "What da ya say?" I asked.

She took a moment to look over her dress before looking back at me. "I don't need magic to beat a lowly human like you." She said raising her hands.

"We'll see, Shally." I said, throwing myself at her. "Let's dance!

* * *

 **A/N: Well, I'm back. Really sorry about the wait. A lot of shit happened all at once and I had to do some soul searching on other shit but it doesn't matter. I'm back and hope you guys enjoyed this latest installment in the tale of Haon. Hope to see you guys at the next one.**

 **On a side note, I really want to thank you guys for your reviews, favorites and follows. Whenever I see one added, it always makes my day a little bit better. So thanks guys. You're the best. :)**

 **As always special thanks to PervySageChuck for being a badass beta.**

 **See ya later.**


	13. Time for a Test

She dodged just as effortlessly as she had when we met back in the forest. Ducking under my punch and sending a strong kick towards my stomach. I didn't have time to question how she was able to get her foot up that high considering the Victorian dress she wore so I threw my arms up to take the force of the attack. The action spared my stomach from pain but it did launch me a few feet into the air. I managed to use the momentum to flip back and correct myself but Shalltear was on me before my feet touched the ground. Sending a quick trio of punches my way that I didn't have the chance to evade completely. Each one hit with the force of a cinderblock, and I was immediately reminded that this vampire's skill wasn't just in spells. She was probably just as deadly a fighter as any one of the other Guardians. With the final punch I shot back several feet rolling in the dirt before finally collapsing motionless. I heard a slight giggle from Shalltear, which did nothing to cure the bad mood I had since hearing the news about the Swords of Darkness.

"Come now, that can't be all you have." She practically sang as she walked over to me. I stayed right where I was on the ground bidding her to come forward. Her smile vanished as she slowed her walk to me as I mouthed a curse. She had learned from our last encounter. I leapt back to my feet and swiping my hand across the dusty ground before throwing a punch towards her fanged mouth. Naturally she cocked her head to the side and glared at me with mild annoyance. That glare really should've been on my other hand. I hurled a handful of dirt I had scooped up from the ground and it found it's mark right across her eyes.

The gamble worked as her eyes clamped shut I sent my strongest kick right under her chin. She lifted into the air and I, ignoring the pain that a few shattered toe bones made, followed suit. I aimed to stay directly under her and twisted my body so I could land a few more kicks to launch her higher into the air.

One. Two. Three. Was the farthest I got before she locked her hand around my right ankle. I tried to lift my other leg but by this point gravity had taken its toll and seeing as how I didn't have anything keeping me in the air this time, I ended up just hanging by my foot as Shalltear held me in in the air.

"Okay." I said looking down towards the ground which seemed like a good ten feet away. "Clearly I haven't thought this through."

"Really? What gave that away?" She asked lifting her arm up so as to get a better look at my eyes. "What on earth was that supposed to accomplish?"

"Well, my great grandpa used to tell me about a show..." I paused as I remembered she wouldn't know what that was. "...A story, where one of the heroes fights someone with monstrous ability by doing a move that involves them kicking the guy into the air and sending them back down into the ground." I said trying desperately to think of a way to weasel out of this situation.

"Did that other person have the ability to fly?" She asked as the formations of a grin began to grow on her lips.

"Uh...no." I said defeated. "But I thought we agreed not to use magic."

"You agreed." She replied. Her second hand grabbed my other ankle. "Besides, I'm doing this naturally."

"Ah... So what happens now?" I asked getting a disturbing feeling in my stomach.

"Well you did say one of them ends up crashing back into the ground." That smile that had been forming stretched into full fruition. "Might as well finish what you started." She began to twist her body and pull me along for the ride. She spun me a good six times before building up what I assumed was an acceptable amount of energy before finally letting go. I couldn't do much to block the impact except close my eyes and pray so that's what I did for maybe the split second before I smashed into the dirt with the velocity she had built up.

The pain on that one was bad. More so than the broken arm, the broken toes, and almost anything that had ever happened to my body in its time here and in the real world. I couldn't move for a solid minute as I struggled to get some air back inside me. By the time that happened all I could was curl up and groan. Everything was hurting and it was made all the worse when the sound of giggling reached my ears.

"Oh my, you seem to have taken a bad fall..." She laughed in what sounded like it was part of a point and mock stance.

"Fuck...You...Shally." I wheezed out as a response rolling over onto my stomach. I ran through a mental list of what was broken and what wasn't. Toes were still gone. But everything else seemed to still be working if hurting like hell.

"Oh, stop wallowing down there." She ordered with a stamp of her feet. "A resourceful human like you should be fine."

Resourceful? My ass that was resourceful. That was damn lucky and she should've known...It clicked in my head right then. She did know it was luck or even more unnerving...I started to push myself back up to my feet when i asked. "Did you...purposefully...not break...anything that time?" I asked as the last of much needed air worked its way into my lungs.

"You catch on pretty quick." She huffed. "Just as you charged, Lord Ainz ordered me not to seriously injure you before he arrived. I can only assume he didn't want to waste the magic or potions on healing you."

I could only let out a sigh as I finally got to my feet. That made sense. I didn't have any of my equipment with me so it was obvious I wasn't going to be a real threat to her. Though since he did ask that, I took that as a good sign that maybe he at least didn't mind my presence.

"Well...thanks for that anyway." I said stepping out of the crater with wobbly feet. "If it's any consolation, death doesn't seem to have done much to your skill." I said trying to think of some way to compliment her. "Good fight." Just didn't seem to work in this case after my embarrassing performance.

She gave another huff, turning away from me. "Indeed. Only Lord Ainz could do such harm to me. No other soul in this world could dream of doing the same."

"Right..." I replied giving what I hoped would be deemed a respectful nod before looking off towards the Amphitheater. Narberal still sat up in the stands though if I had to guess, she wore a smile as she stared down at me. Probably overjoyed that the new pet human just got his ass handed to him. My gaze then turned to Reina and Remna who still stood at the side as stiff as statues. "So what did you two think? I have any chance?"

They seemed shocked at me speaking to them but aside from that shook their heads. Great. The same vampires I had knocked out hadn't been impressed. "Whatever." I shrugged. "I hope you two learned something at least."

"Learn?" Shalltear asked with a raised eyebrow. "What could those two learn from you?"

"You'd be surprised." I replied. "Reina, Remna, either of you learn to take charge yet?" I asked knowing full well they had probably not had the time to think about what I had joked about. I was proven right when I saw the hints of red creep onto their cheeks. Which aside from getting a chuckle out of me did make me question how that was possible for people who were supposed to be dead...or undead I corrected.

"Take charge?" Shalltear repeated.

I waved her off. "Don't worry about it. It's none of your business anyway." I said giving a wink in their direction before continuing. "So, what now Shally?"

She didn't reply. I turned to see what had caught her attention and it was obvious when I saw Ainz himself accompanied by the exact same Guardians I had met back in the Throne room, standing just a few feet away. Shalltear's eyes seemed to be locked with the succubus who I remembered was called Albedo and Reina and Remna had knelt down to one knee. Their heads bent in recognition of their lower status. To put the conversation in the right tone, I did the same.

My bow was met with a light chuckle. "How considerate. And here I thought you would only do something like that under force."

"Pride was never something I had too much of." I replied keeping my head bowed. "And before I say anything else. I'd like to thank you for not throwing me in a dungeon."

"Your gratitude is useless to Lord Ainz." Albedo spoke, not bothering to turn her eyes to look at me and instead keeping them locked on the Vampire Princess. "And that showing was pathetic, Shalltear. It seems you can still be taken by surprise rather easily."

I straightened my head just in time to see the hurt in Shalltear's eyes. It was brief, being quickly wiped away with a few blinks. But that was all I had needed to see.

You may have noticed by now that I tend to say the exact wrong thing at the exact wrong time consistently and while you might think thank it was suicidal for me to say what I was about to...You really should've seen her. She was practically begging to be insulted.

"Tough talk coming from a melon chested whore..." I growled.

I don't think I've ever seen anyone's face contort with rage quite like Albedo's did. I had already guessed that like probably everyone else in this damn temple she had a hatred for humans. So for one to insult her right to her face, in front of her beloved no less, was like pouring gasoline onto a raging fire. I stood back to my feet trying to block a feeling of dread in my stomach at what was about to come my way.

"Look I get that you're probably trying to impress Ainz with this 'cold bitch' attitude you got going." I said, remembering the affection she had shown back when they saw Shalltear in the forest. "But you need to get off your high horse and realize that Shally here, is three times the fighter you are. And probably three times the woman." I continued pointing to Shally and keeping my eyes on Albedo whose glare was now fully on me. "So how about you change out of your 'slut of the month' uniform and go get whoever froze your fellow Guardian in the forest. And until then, you can kiss her ass."

Oddly enough, it didn't take long for the silence to fade away and Albedo to grow a disgustingly smug smile. Ainz' eye sockets looked at her then back to me. Feeling like I had missed something, I mouthed my concern.

"Um... Is this an execution?" I asked. I heard Ainz and a few of the other Guardians chuckle.

"Not initially." Ainz replied. "Thought I can't say you helped your case. This is a test." A small dark portal opened right next to his hand and he reached in. He tossed a still sheathed Jade to the ground at my feet.

"I need to determine your worth to Nazarick." He explained. "And to do that, I need to see you at your full strength. Your opponent will be Albedo."

I looked at him with a blank stare than back to Albedo who despite giving me a smile, clutched her fists in what I'm sure was a deep rage. "Oh..."

"I would recommend not holding back in the slightest." Ainz said before gesturing the Brides and Shally over to his side. "You will need all your strength if you wish to survive." I wasn't sure if the Brides gave me a glance but I thought I saw one from Shalltear as she moved to her lord's side.

"And everyone else here?" I asked gesturing to the Guardians. "They just here to watch?"

Ainz nodded as Demiurge spoke. "It was noted in your file that you were amongst the most powerful humans back in Yggdrasil." He pushed his glasses closer to his diamond eyes. "If a bit foul tempered." He glanced to Albedo. "Your performance against Albedo will determine if that strength is still present. As well as where your placement in Nazarick will be."

"Ah." I nodded. "Don't suppose I could just suggest where I'd be the most useful?"

"We judge with our eyes here, human." Demiurge replied. "If you have any sort of value, we will see it here and now."

I sighed. "Didn't think so." I looked up to Narberal who still stood up in the stands. "Hey Narberal, do me a favor and speak nicely at my funeral." I yelled.

I can't speak to what her reaction was but my words did elicit a chuckle from Demiurge, the twin elves, and maybe Shalltear who didn't bother to look in my direction. "Can I ask two things before we do this though?" Ainz allowed it so I spoke. "Why her and not Shally?"

"Shalltear's strength was tested enough in her fight with Lord Ainz." Demiurge replied. "And to ask her to fight you at full strength again, especially after being resurrected so soon, is a risk Lord Ainz refuses to take."

I bobbed my head once again being reminded of Ainz's attachment to his Guardians while also noting hearing those words from Demiurge wasn't going to help Shalltear's confidence. "What is the second?" Demiurge asked.

"Can I say anything I want during the battle without worrying about getting struck by lightning, or being eaten by some monster summoned by someone aside from Albedo."

Demiurge looked confused by the question but nevertheless nodded. "You may. This test is solely between you and Albedo."

"If we are finished..." Ainz put a hand on Albedo's shoulder and looked like he whispered something in her ear as the other Guardians moved towards the stands above. I knelt down and grabbed my newly returned sword checking to see if was the real thing or some sick joke to get a laugh before I was slaughtered. I lifted Jade from the sheath and held it to my face. It radiated with a distinct magical energy that I had grown accustomed to over the years and I smiled. I tossed the sheath to the ground behind me. As Ainz moved away from Albedo. He gave one last glance to me before strolling on up to the stands.

I decided to wonder what it meant later as I stared at Albedo who now stood alone in the arena. "I don't suppose an apology would help your mood."

She didn't even offer a head shake, instead she began to summon a bright purple flame that quickly covered her whole body. Within seconds, the flames dissipated and in its place was a shining midnight black set of armor and a matching battleaxe which she wielded in both hands.

"Okay." I whispered. I gripped Jade with my right and let out a breath.

To tell you the truth, I wasn't sure if Jade was going to be enough for this lady so I was definitely worried about dying here. But it was my best chance and she had gotten me through pretty precarious situations before. So it wasn't impossible. "Ignite."

Jade began to shine in a bright green aura before blasting emerald fire from its blade into existence. Much like Albedo, the flames engulfed me and I began to feel my strength rush back into my body. My bones fixed right up along with my confidence and for the first time since I arrived in this world, I felt genuinely good. Great even. Where the fire began to vanish, I felt new armor in its place. Pieces of a medieval set that came into full fruition when the flames vanished from my face and left me with a sold green helm that didn't look all that different from her own. Of course my didn't have horns, but it did have a golden dragon seal plastered on it. My own personal symbol of the guild I represented. Naturally, she wasn't too impressed.

"So, this is the big secret you were keeping?" She laughed from behind her helm. "A magical armor set?"

"Laugh it up, Al." I replied settling on the nick name. "I hope you can take it when Shally criticizes your pathetic performance. "I said swinging Jade around with my new armored right hand to get a feel for the weight increase. In my left, a newly minted shield of matching emerald color sat ready for use so I smashed the blade against it to get the rest of my blood boiling. "You've met Haon the Idiot. Now you stand before Haon the Holy. And it's time for a Crusade."

* * *

"Haon the Holy?" Aura laughed next to her brother. "What kind of a name is that?"

"I-It does sound a bit over the top." Mare agreed tapping his staff nervously. "And to say such a thing to lady Albedo..."

"He is a rather frank human." Demiurge said curling a fist under his chin. "I must admit I am confused by his words. Does he not take the threat of death seriously?"

"Don't be fooled." Cocytus breathed staring down at the two armored warriors in the arena as they came to blows. "He's terrified right now." The eyes of the watching Guardians moved to him, requesting an explanation. "He appears vulgar to hide his worry. His theatrical nature acts as the same. A personal shield to hide behind. He doesn't know how powerful lady Albedo is and..." He paused as if trying to put it into words what he sense from watching Haon. "He's trying to focus in order to impress Lord Ainz."

"Impress you say?" Demiurge turned to his lord just as Narberal floated to his side and sat down. "Narberal, you've kept watch on him since he arrived. Would do you make of the human?"

"Hao..." She coughed and shook her head. "The human is strange. He uses curse words liberally, and keeps claiming he has no interest in Nazarick or any of its treasures."

"Wait. If that's true, why seek out Lord Ainz at all?" Aura asked. "Why would he risk his life if not to at least see Nazarick?"

"...He wants to get home." Ainz spoke calmly.

"Lord?" Demiurge asked.

Ainz went silent and allowed Demiurge to work his way to the natural conclusion. " I see." His eyebrows rose at the realization. "He wishes to return to Yggdrasil."

"Indeed." Ainz replied. "So far, he is the only other one to have made the journey to this new world. Everyone he's ever known. Friends, family, all were more than likely left behind."

What happened next shocked every one of the Guardians and even Ainz himself. "So in a way...He's somewhat similar to you, lord?" Reina asked speaking from behind Shalltear whose eyes widened at the act. Surely there couldn't be anything similar between the Lord Ainz and a lowly human.

Rather than respond with malice, Ainz let out a small laugh. "That's correct, Reina. In that way, he and I are similar." Ainz replied before straightening himself up and looking back to the arena. "Now then, let us see if he can hold his own with Albedo. I expect each of you to watch with the intent of seeing his strengths and weaknesses. Understood?"

A choir of "Yes, lord" rang out from the Guardians. And each turned towards the battle with renewed focus. Ainz himself did the same save for one lingering question that stayed in his mind. The outburst at Albedo, was that truly in Shalltear's defense or just used as a tactic to get under her skin? All odds pointed towards the second choice, yet the possibility remained. He'd have to think more on the subject at later date.

* * *

 **A/N: Tada! Probably not what you all were expecting. Or maybe it's exactly what you were expecting. You guys are rather smart when it comes to these things.**

 **I also do hope by now that you all know I actually like the characters of Overlord and have respect for their power, so don't worry about any Albedo bashing.**

 **Special thanks to PervySageChuck for being a badass beta reader.**

 **See ya later**.


	14. Haon of Nazarick

She and I didn't waste any time. Blasting towards each other in matching shockwaves of speed and smashing into each other. I can't speak for myself, but running into her was like ramming a steaming freight train. Just a mountain of pressure and strength that without my armor, I'm certain would've flattened me like a pancake. I leaned into my shield and gave a push to try and force her back and give me some breathing room. Sensing this, she pulled back. Causing me to fall forward and lose balance. She twisted her body around and swung her axe at my back. With a grace I didn't know I had, I stopped myself from falling and turned just in time to block the attack. Her axe slammed into my shield, rattling my arm and body as I came to terms with just how strong this woman was.

"Damn Al." I grunted with a smile. "You're a bit strong aren't ya?"

"More so then you could ever hope to be." Albedo growled increasing pressure on my shield. "All you are human, is a curiosity to Lord Ainz. Nothing more than that."

"Curiosity hmmm?" I chuckled. "And what am I to you?" I asked.

"A bug to be squashed." She replied. She pulled back her axe and gave a few more swings my way. Each time hitting my shield with a staggering amount of force that by the fifth strike I was forced to a knee. I rolled out of the way just in time for a particular swing aimed for my head. And heaved myself back to my feet. I decided to go on the offensive.

I can't tell you how good it felt to fight at full strength. Sure, I didn't have my signature cloak or any of my supplies so I wasn't exactly in it for the long haul. But even if I couldn't put up a prolonged front, I could make do with the time I had, and fight with everything I had. I made a stab for her breastplate before she twisted out of the way, I lunged towards her a few more times each time thinking I was getting just a bit closer to landing a strike before another swing from her axe halted my progress. Blasting the blade from my hands and away from my grasp crashing into the dirt some feet away.

Not having time to admire her move, I narrowly ducked under another swipe aimed at my neck and decided to test my luck with at physical combat. I threw my elbow under her arms and hit right under the helm of her mask. I smiled, thinking I had taken her by surprise, before I realized she hadn't stumbled back or even let on that she had been hit. She gave another swing with her axe, this time flying right by my shield and hitting me square in my chest. Smashing into my armor and sending the air squirming off my lungs. Then in an extremely cruel act of karma, threw her own elbow right under my chin sending my helm flying off and me careening into the air before crashing back into the dirt.

There was no mocking laugh like with Shalltear. That might've been the most unnerving thing about her. I had a hunch she was enjoying this yet she made gave no sign of such thinking. No, she was all business at least in appearance. Mind you, I didn't exactly have a lot of time to compare the two as I pulled myself back up my feet. "Ok, good hit Al."

"That was little more than a tickle." She stated, walking over to me with a machine like focus. "We've not yet begun the fight, human."

I could picture a sadistic grin under her helm as she said this and the image ignited my temper yet again. "Let me ask you something. Do you legitimately enjoy being a cunt or is it just impress 'Bone-daddy' up there?"

That got the job done in the way I had hoped. I could envision a vein bursting on her head as she let our an unnatural yell. "You dare to insult Lord Ainz?!"

"Of course not honey." I smiled as she her charge drew her dangerously close. "...just you." The armor I wore exploded in sea of emerald fire that swept over her. I thought I heard mild grunts of pain as I put some distance between me and her. Once further away, jade shot back to my hand just in time as I saw the blaze swept away from Albedo swipe of her hand.

The fire didn't do any obvious damage much to my disillusionment, but she did pull off her helmet and toss it away. Vanishing before it hit the ground. Her face was one of concentration but it looked strained. As if she was trying to hold her rage back.

"What's wrong Al?" I asked, using the most condescending voice I was capable of doing. "You need a break already?"

She took a deep breath. "Your insulting remarks will do you no good here, human."

I could hear the plan in my mind shatter like glass. My best chance was to put her off her edge. Make her fight me as blind as possible. But if she actually kept a lid on her emotions, name-calling wasn't gonna work. I needed some more time to think.

The embers she blasted away returned to me shifting from a heavy armor to a more lightweight material similar to leather. Jade began to change as well, morphing and elongating into a shining halberd. I decided to keep my mouth shut for once and charge back at her. Moving at speeds much faster than before and hopefully outclassing her as long as she kept on that armor.

* * *

"A shape-shifting blade and armor set?" Aura asked seemingly surprised at the revelation. "Wow, I can't say I've seen that before."

"It does more than simply change shape." Ainz spoke, pulling up the stats that Demiurge read aloud to the Guardians that sat around him. "Jade is a special weapon. It focuses one's combat abilities to specialize in whatever style of combat the user prepares. And increases his overall skill for as long it is held active. He now stands at a light level 96."

"A weapon that increases the overall skill of the warrior that uses it?" Cocytus shifted his gaze from his lord back to the fight. "Such a weapon would be welcomed in our halls."

Demiurge nodded in agreement. "The weapon would be welcomed. but I'm still not certain as to its wielder."

Ainz tilted his skull at the demon. "His strength has left you unconvinced Demiurge?"

"I have no doubt he is strong, lord." Demiurge conceded, clasping his hands together in a sign of forethought. "Not many others could last this long against Albedo. Nor do I imagine you would have let him into Nazarick if he didn't have some measure of your interest. But he is still a human. And humans, especially strong ones, are something I have little personal experience with. Nor do any of us." He kept his gaze on the battle as I tried desperately to land a hit on Albedo with a barrage of stabs. " Even if he is from YGGDRASIL, I see little reason to trust him with duties to Nazarick." Ainz took his words in stride before nodding. "But as always, my thoughts pale in comparison to yours." Demiurge gave a slight bow of the head. "If you see some use for him, I will defer to your judgement.

Ainz nodded againand looked to his insectoid guardian. "Cocytus, where does he stand to you?"

Cocytus scanned the battle yet again, checking my form, speed, precision, and comparing it to those who also served Nazarick as well as the Supreme Ones. He looked back to his lord and sighed. "With some work, I believe he can be a useful warrior in our cause."

Ainz accepted his guardian's opinion. "And the fact that he is human?" He asked.

Cocytus gave what looked to be a shrug. "Even humans are capable of honor. And honor is what I would look for in soldiers." He bowed his head as well. "But as Demiurge stated, your judgement is the only one that matters."

He then asked the dark elf twins. "Aura, Mare?"

"I like him." Aura exclaimed. "He doesn't feel like a stick in the mud and he likes a good laugh."

"I'm not s-sure." Mare admitted, looking down at his gloved hand where a ring rested. "But he returned my ring when he didn't have to. M-Maybe he's nice."

Ains looked over to Shalltear, still flanked by the Brides and glaring down towards the man who now found himself at Albedo's mercy. "Shalltear?"

Shalltear looked away from the battle and gave the slightest of smiles. "He does have a knack for annoying Albedo. That alone is worth keeping him around. If nothing else, than as a pet for my amusement."

Demiurge adjusted his glasses. "And his comments about you being "thrice the woman" than Albedo have nothing to do with your decision?" He asked with a knowing grin.

She gave a huff and crossed her arms. "He at least knows quality when he sees it." Ains gave a light chuckle before looking at the Brides.

Finally, Ainz turned to Naberal who till that point had been fully consumed in the battle below. "What do you think Naberal? Does he hold himself adequately?"

She peeled her eyes away from the fight and gave a scowl. " I believe he is adequate my lord. If lady Albedo doesn't kill him, he may be of some use to us."

Ainz gave a brief nod. Accepting the opinions of his subordinates before focusing once again on the battle. Curious as to how I might pull myself out of the situation I found myself in.

* * *

The match should've ended the match by now. They all probably made their decisions about where I stand if they hadn't already. There was little point to continue this fight unless it was just to punish me or maybe she had been instructed to kill me. Judging by the concentration in Albedo's face as her axe once again slammed into my halberd, I could guess that's exactly what it was. I let my mouth put me in yet another bad situation and I was gonna pay for it. Fine, but I wasn't gonna apologize without a fight.

I spun my halberd around just as another swipe of her axe came at me. This time, with nothing to hit, it smashed into the ground and stuck. With all the force I had, I sent the curved blade straight for her neck as her eyes widened at the speed of my attack. Where there should've been impact of flesh, I heard metal. I looked to see she had abandoned her weapon all together and caught my spear with gauntlets in a awesome showing of speed and precision. Of course, I had little time admire said skill before she threw a punch at my face. I barely tilted my head in time and was useless to stop the follow up armored kick. Her foot plowed into my cheek as the taste of blood filled my mouth. As I clutched my face in panic, she kept up her assault. Hammering with uncommonly strong lefts and rights. I tried to mount what might've been called a defense but you woudn't have been able to tell by looking. I had speed sure, but it was worthless against Albedo's raw strength and I think she knew it because now she started to get that sort of shit-eating grin people have when they can just wail on someone without hope of a reprisal. With one last powerful curled up fist, she sent me tumbling away from her in a spectacular showing of blood.

I really have to thank my adrenaline for blocking out the pain. I didn't need a mirror to tell I was in bad shape. My cheeks were swollen, I couldn't see out of one eye, and I was fairly certain she may have even punched an ear off, though I'm not sure how. I tried to pull myself back up but the closest I could come to was one knee. As my strength began to fade, Jade's power did as well. What little armor I had vanished in a green light and I was once again in my casual wear from earlier.

"Looks like that's your limit, human." She chuckled sadistically. "And I must say, you look a lot better now."

"Haha..." I wheezed out in mock laughter. "Bet Ainz would say the same about you..."

Her fingers wrapped around my neck like snakes and she lifted me of the ground. "That mouth of yours gets you into trouble, human." She growled out. A sick gleam filled her eye as a thought struck her. "How about I get rid of it? Replace it with one more accomidating."

Now I was fucked. Either I do nothing and let her rip my tongue out or I try to fight out and more than likely get killed. Neither option was preferable but I'd rather die than never talk again so I decided I'd get one last attack in after my last sentence.

"Sorry to ruin your Frankenstein Monster fetish Al, but you'll have to kill me. " I said, summoning what remained of my strength and throwing both my feet strainght into her breastplate. The action did enough to save me from from her grasp but with my strength gone, I could do little other than smash back onto the ground. I waited for the inevitable wail of rage that was gonna follow along with whatever final strike was gonna do me in. But it never came. Instead I saw her walk back towards me, the sadism and rage in her face gone. "What did you just say?" She asked with starteled eyes as if someone had just woken her up from a daze.

Confused, I simply repeated my sentence. "Sorry to ruin your Frankenstein fetish..."

"What do you know of Frankenstein's Monster?" She interrupted.

Now that was a complicated question. She can't have known about the one back in the real world could she? "That he is a mons...being whom was built from the parts of dead bodies and brought to life by a mad scientist named Frankenstein?" I said, trying to keep it as vague as possible but also try to hopefully match what she thought was Frankenstein.

The answer looked like it was good enough, because for whatever reason almost all her hostility vanished. "How do you know that story?"

I'd have been happy to answer but that's when my adrenaline finally ran out. I went smiled as fell into unconsciousness or death. It was hard to tell which it was but either way, I was thankful for the rest it brought with it.

Ainz had been somewhat surprised when Albedo ceased her onslaught. Either I was weaker than he remembered or... He chuckled as he realized I must've said something that startled her. "Looks like the fight is over." Ainz' sighed. "Let's go make sure, he hasn't left us." He as well as the other onlookers leapt from the stands down to the field below. As Ainz walked over, he noticed Albedo looked almost frozen. "Albedo?" He asked, growing more concerned the longer he looked at her.

As if snapping out of a trance, she realized he was addressing her and knelt. "Lord, a thousand apologies. "

"It's fine Albedo." Ainz said, waving it off. "Just wanted to make sure you were ok. You looked surprised."

"The human...He knows about Frankenstein."

Demiurge raised an eyebrow as Ainz went silent. "Frankenstein? Just what is that?"

"It was one of Lord Tabula's favorite stories." She admitted, shocking everyone there and looking to Ainz for answers. "How would he know about that, lord?"

I often wonder what went through Ainz's mind when Albedo asked that. Did he think about telling truth right then and there? Did it even cross his mind? All I can say is what he responded with. "He must've talked with him, at one point." Ainz's hand extended to my prone body and a healing spell worked its way through my system. "In any case, I think he's proved himself. If he can get you to hesitate Albedo."

Shalltear's chuckle was the first I heard as I awoke. Where I expected pain, I felt relief and even mild comfort as my body glowed slightly from Ain's spell. After adjusting my eyes, I stood back up looking to Ains who now stood a few feet away, accompanied by his guardians who each looked at me with a different expression than when we first met. None of them friendly, but at least no longer out right hostile. I smiled and for the first time, I felt my lost teeth from my fight with Shalltear in the forest back in my mouth. As if they had never left at all. "Haon." Ainz's voice bellowed like a fog horn. I did the smart thing and fell back to one knee. "What do you have to say of your performance?" He asked. I opened my mouth to give another smart ass reply but decided that in this instance, I should put a little thought into my reply.

"I fought Albedo with the strength I had. Maybe I could've done better, maybe not. Either way, I tried my best." I frowned at how weak that must've sounded to the cold guardians. "...But it wasn't enough." I then thought about restarting my relationship with the same succubus who had just beaten me. "Albedo." I raised my head to her still armored form. "To no one's surprise, You're the better fighter. And I'd like to offer my apologies to you and Ainz if my words offended you."

A silence swept over the arena and I did my best to allow it continue despite my hatred for awkward silences. Then, a single clap rang out and Ains let out a light laugh. "Very good." A wave of power started to emit from him as he continued. "Haon, before you lies an opportunity never before bestowed to a human. As a result of showing and honesty, I offer you a place in Nazarick."

My smile grew as for the first time since I entered the tomb I didn't feel anxious about someone killing me. "But before you accept..." He continued. "You must understand that life will not be easy. Whether you are from YGGDRASIL or not, you are a human. And as such, you will have much to prove to the other denizens. Some of which stand before you." He gestured to those who stood beside him. "And their approval will determine whether your life here will be one of misery or something better.

I glanced to Demiurge, Aura, Mare, Albedo, Cocytus, and Narberal and nodded my head. "I look forward to proving myself."

"Excellent. Now for one last question..." Ainz pointed to me. "Whom do you serve, Haon?"

A shiver went down my spine and I took a deep breath before replying. "I serve the Tomb of Nazarick, I serve Ainz Ooal Gown."

Ainz then beckoned me to stand. "Then rise, Haon of Nazarick."

I returned to my feet with the energy of a new man. Confidant and proud and shook his outstretched hand. "What would you have me do?"

"We will return to the throne room for further discussion." Ainz stated with a glance to Albedo. "Narberal will continue to guard you until I say otherwise, but you are now free to roam the Tomb as you wish. I will call upon you when I have need."

"As you wish." I said slightly bowing my head. Ainz accepted this gesture and he and Albedo vanished from view in a bright shimmer of light. With them gone, I let out the biggest sigh in my entire life. It actually worked. I now had somewhat of a home in the Tomb of Nazarick. The safest place in this new world.

Seeing my relief brought a slight chuckle out of Demiurge who looked at me with calculating gaze as he adjusted his glasses. "I will congratulate you, human. You have impressed lord Ains, a feat that few have accomplished."

"It's not gonna go to my head, if that's what you're worried about." I said, keeping my smile. "I know how lucky I am."

"It's gonna be cool having a human around." Aura said bounding over to me. "Usually we end up killing any who get close to Nazarick."

My smile dimmed somewhat at her words. "Well I'll try not to give you guys a reason to kill me." I looked to Shalltear next who's smile didn't seem quite as evil as before. "You're welcome, by the way."

"I'm sorry?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.

"For going after Al for you." I said with a laugh. "Between you and me, she really needs to up her insults. If the word bug is the best she's got, she needs more help than I thought. Ain't that right Narberal?" I asked over to the maid. "Want to practice your speech in front of an audience?"

She shook her head a bit too quickly, no doubt still embarrassed about being caught by Ainz earlier. "Ah well. It's harder in front of audience anyway. Why do you think Ainz and Al left?"

"What are you implying?" Shalltear suddenly asked with a slight panic in her eyes.

"What do you think I'm implying?" I asked back, thinking it was obvious . "Those two are probably going at it in the throne room right now. Though I'm not quite sure how..."

Shalltear let out a panicked scream and immediately vanished. "So she likes Ainz too huh?" I asked aloud. Cocytus was the first to reply.

"Like is a pretty weak word." He explained. "It's closer to infatuation for those two."

I understood immediately but I was still a bit confused. "Ok, but how's that work exactly?"

I heard a slight giggling from Aura who looked at me with raised eyebrows. "You don't know how sex works?"

"Trust me kid, I know how sex works." I replied, sounding oddly defensive. "But he's a skeleton."

Cocytus looked at me, confused. "What does that have to do with it?"

"If he has no organs to speak of, how exactly can it work?" I asked back. "I mean just because it's called a boner..."

"I think I'm gonna take my leave." Demiurge replied, eager to leave before going down this particular conversational rabbit hole. With him gone, Cocytus soon followed, saying he'd have to prepare for a mission given to him by Ainz. The twins disappeared next taking about how they each had stuff to work on and how'd they see me later. Soon it was just me and Narberal.

"I'm eager to get on with my duties. "she suddenly said. "I'll be going as well."

"Wait, How am I supposed to get back?" I asked.

She gave me annoyed glance before pointing to my feet. "Walking. It's an incredibly modern invention. Use it."

Why that sarcastic bitch. I opened my mouth yell that out at her but she was gone in a flash too. With her gone, I let out a sigh. "Great, now what am I supposed to do?" I asked aloud. " Masturbate?"

"Are you referring to us?"

I nearly jumped out of my skin at the sound of the voice. I looked over and much to my surprise Reina and Remna still stood exactly where Shalltear had been as still as white clothed statues. "Hey, what are you two still doing here?"

"Lady Shalltear had no need for us so we did not follow." Reina replied with an uncomfortable gaze. "I fear she still looks down on us after our failure in the forest."

Remna's saddened gaze matched her opposites's and I somehow felt a wave of pity for the two blood sucking vampires. "Well I told you, when she calls on you two next time. Take some charge." I said, trying my best to pump them up. "I have a good feeling that she'll enjoy it."

"But...how does one do...that?" Remna asked.

My mind went blank. This was about to go down a weird road and I wasn't sure that continuing this conversation was a good idea. "I uh...On second thought, I'm just gonna go to my room."

"We will accompany you." Reina replied, following me along with Remna. "There we will continue our discussion."

I sighed and turned back around. "Uh, I'm not sure that's a..." My mind once again went blank as I accidentally took notice of the clothes they were still wearing. Specifically how very 'concubine' they were. Couple that with the fact that they were both rather beautiful ladies, and soon enough my gaze lingered. Once I got my energy back I immediately peeled my eyes away. No, this was a terrible idea. I shouldn't even be considering it. They're vampire for god's sake. I'm not that desperate...

"Okay. " I said with a shrug of my shoulders. "I'm not gonna stop you."

* * *

 **A/N: Tada. I think I'll call it a chapter there. Sorry it took so long. Had to rewatch season 2 of Overlord to prepare. ANyway, hope you guys enjoy and I'll see you later. Take care out there.**


	15. A New Mission

It hadn't been three hours when Narberal came marching back to my room. Opening the door and doubtlessly thinking I was alone.

"…right above it, there's a spot shaped like a little button. Now attend to that button and I guarantee she'll be thankful….." I looked back to whomever opened the door. "Hey, Narberal." I said with a wave. She blinked when she saw Reina and Remna, sitting quietly at the same table, sandwiches in front of them, still uneaten. "You want something to eat?"

"I'm adequate, thank you." Her eyes lingered on the other two women. "What are the Brides doing here?"

"Oh. " I said, snapping my fingers. "Just listening to me ramble. Unless you want me to clue Narberal in on our conversation…." I looked over to the Brides and awaited their answer.

"We were speaking of Lady Shalltear, Ms. Narberal." Reina spoke, bowing her head to her superior. "Of our obligations to her and seeing if their was anyway to improve."

Narberal looked to me confused. "Improve?"

I got up and shrugged. "They want to get back in Shally's good graces after the forest." I picked up my plate and took it back over to the counter. " I don't really see why. It's not like they turned rogue or anything but whatever." I looked back over to Narberal. "Did you need something?"

Snapping back out of it, Narberal's stoic gaze returned and she shook her head. "I finished my other duties and Reina and Remna are needed back with lady Shalltear."

"All right." I said moving back to the table. " Okay ladies, looks like break's over. I hope what I had to say helps."

The Brides bowed their heads in unison as a sign of thanks and quickly exited the room. With them gone, Narberal asked the question that I'm sure some of you are wondering. "Where you and them…." She trailed off, almost worried about my answer.

I chuckled as I picked up their un-eaten sandwiches. I still had the habit of forgetting undead didn't exactly have appetites for simple things. "We were just talking." I answered, hoping to dispel any compromising ideas. "They wanted some bed room tips for when Shalltear calls on them."

She raised an eyebrow, seemingly surprised. "And you gave them the advice for free?" She asked. "You could've made a rather…...beneficial trade. As most humans would."

"Some humans would." I corrected. "And don't start raising your opinion of me now. I *definitely* had a few things on my mind." I sighed as the images of what could've been ran through my head. "But I'll tell you exactly what was going to happen If I had asked." I walked back over to the door. "Either A, They turn out to be full on lesbians and I'm left standing there looking like a jackass. B, they simply refuse and I'm left feeling like a jackass for asking. Or C, I have the most brutal/best sex of my life and they go and talk to Shalltear whom then asks how they got better. To which they'll respond with my name and she'll get pissed and come kill me herself, ask Ainz to kill me, or both."

Her blank stare gave me the impression that she didn't understand how my mind worked, and I couldn't really blame her. I'm sure there weren't a lot of people who did. "So to sum up." I continued. " Long term, I made a good decision. Short term…." I clicked my tongue "Damn."

She shook her head which I took as better than a disgusted grunt. So progress was being made. "So, you finish whatever you needed to do?" I asked.

"Quite. Now I'm back to making sure you do not betray us."

My frustration with everyone's paranoia still lingered, now more as annoyed curiosity. So instead of simply barking back at her, I decided to try and get to the heart of the matter. "Ok, what exactly did I or any human do to you guys to make you hate us?"

"I need a reason to hate insects?"

"You need a reason to _think_ we are insects." I replied, wiping any lingering breadcrumbs off my shirt. "You and everyone else here clearly like to think in generalities. And that's your biggest flaw."

"Flaw?" She repeated back in a cold sarcastic tone.

I nodded in response. "If you go around thinking every human you meet is an insignificant worm, you're bound to be thrown for a loop one day." Her skeptical gaze told me that I needed an example. "I'm willing to bet that's exactly what happened to Shally. She went out looking for me, thinking that I and every human she'd meet was going to be as useless as knitted condom and look what happened to her." I paused for a moment to let the line linger. "...And if humans can be stronger than you give them credit for, it stands to reason they can be more than insects, right?" I asked giving one of my less charming smiles. Nevertheless, I could see that she was following my train of thought.

She bit her upper lip in frustration. "You're logic is sound. Whoever enslaved lady Shalltear must've been quite powerful for a human. Perhaps a little above yourself."

I had to shake my head to wave off the shock. "Why Narberal, was that a compliment?"

"A simple statement of fact." She defended, sitting down at the table. "You have survived encounters with lord Ainz, lady Shalltear, and lady Albedo. A feat that even the most skilled in this world would not be able to do. By my account as well as Ainz himself, you are one of the strongest humans in this world."

I laughed her off. Strongest man in the world my ass. That was the highest grade of bullshit I ever heard. Yet she seemed completely serious about her statement and I had to remind myself that Ainz and me were the only two people from YGGDRASIL the denizens of Nazarick had any interaction with.

That's when an idea popped into my head. Maybe there was a way I could make conversation with them without sounding like a madman, talking about how their reality was just a game. "Well I must say Narberal, that would be a first."

She cocked an eyebrow. "Explain."

"I'm just saying, I don't think I've ever been called the one of strongest humans on a planet before." I chuckled. "It's a bit jarring is all."

" _A_ planet?"

There it was. I gave a shining grin. If Ainz could give him a new persona in the form of Momon, whose to say I couldn't change my background to make me a little more interesting? "I'm actually a bit of a traveler."

A gleam of interest appeared in her eye. "YGGDRASIL wasn't your home?"

I shook my head. "Nope, it was just the latest in the long line of worlds I've called home."

Now I definitely had her attention. "Worlds?" She repeated, still keeping her skeptical tone from earlier. "A human like you has the means to travel in between worlds?"

"Again, don't get too high opinion of me." I said waving my hands. "More often than not, I just end up in new worlds by accident. But the point still stands, I've seen my fair share of lands beyond YGGDRASIL. Places like Middle Earth, Tamriel, Alagaesia, Westeros, Cybertron, there's a big universe out there. "

With each name I listed off, she became more skeptical. "Can you provide proof?" She asked.

"All of it was left in YGGDRASIL." I replied, thinking there was no way I could prove it but there was also no way she could disprove it. A new idea cropped into my head. " Incidentally…. Do you guys know how we needed up here from YGGDRASIL?"

Her gaze went downward. Probably making sure that the information hadn't been deemed classified by Ainz. "Nazarick itself was moved. We were all inside it at the time. How about you?"

"I was in a bar….about to go home." I followed, being careful not to be too specific about how everyone was logging out of the game. "And I started to get a real dizzy. In fact it all really started when I found….."

My train of thought came to a screeching halt. The watch. The fucking watch! I ran my hands through my clothes in a panic. Surprising Narberal.

"Lost something?" She asked.

"When you and Ainz took my stuff? Was there a watch on me?"

She blinked. "A watch?"

"You know, a pocket watch?" I asked. "A small clock with a light chain attached to it?"

She paused, running through her memory before shaking her head. "I don't believe so. Did you check your inventory?"

I froze mid-search. We still had those things? Flicked my wrist to open my inventory screen andmuch to my shock, it opened up. Not that it really mattered considering Ainz took all my weapons and gear but there was the watch. just sitting there listed under Miscellaneous. I activated it, and it came back to my neck. "This is the thing I found right before I got moved to this new world." I pulled it off and held it in front of Narberal. "It seem like anything to you?" I asked.

Her eyes darted over it at the speed of a hummingbird's wings before settling back on me. "I'm not sensing any magic from appears to be an ordinary watch."

Well I wasn't sure about that. It just appearing out of nowhere right when I get transported here, was still a bit too coincidental but I couldn't really do anything about it right now. So with that little crisis over with, and the watch stored right back into my inventory, I looked back to Narberal. "Okay, what can I do?"

"Do?"

"Who or what needs help in Nazarick?" I elaborated. "I need something to pass the time until Ainz summons me for whatever mission I get."

She thought for a moment before giving a crooked smile, that in hindsight really should've let me know something bad was happening in her mind. "Lord Demiurge might have something for you to do. He often works in his Stockyards.

I nodded, getting what I thought would be expected of me. "Stockyards huh, we talking feeding farm animals or something?"

She nodded slowly. "Something like that."

* * *

Something like that, she says. SOMETHING LIKE THAT?! I'll put it to you all simply, Demiurge's stockyards were filled with the most vile, disgusting, horrifying, nightmare inducing creatures that I'd ever seen. And most of their favorite food was what? You guessed it flesh. So for the next four to five hours, I dashed all across the yards feeding huge heards of hellspawn from a bucket of what I was pretty sure was dead human skin. Or something that smelled very much like it. All the while, trying not to get bitten or chomped on myself. One particular demon crocodile came dangerously close to biting my jewels off and but that's a story for another time.

So anyway, after that mess I met Narberal just outside the yards. She stood there with a disgustingly smug smile on her face that did nothing but worsen my mood.

"Have fun?" She asked.

"Oh sure." I snarled. "Plenty." I looked down at my leisure clothes, all now covered in mud and grime and god knows what else. "Why exactly does Nazarick need a heard of soul swallowing tigers?"

She didn't bother to answer, chuckling at my annoyance and motioning me to follow. "Come, It's unwise to keep lord Ainz waiting."

"Now they're waiting?" I asked, crossing my arms as I followed her. "Good, it was about time Al and Ainz take a break. Were they just as lost as I was?" I snickered.

"Why would Lady Albedo and Ainz be lost in the tomb of Nazarick?" She asked, clearly missing my meaning.

I held back a chuckle. "That's not what I meant." When that was done, I decided to ask something that had been on my mind for a while. "So, do you have a crush on him too?" I asked putting my hands in my pockets.

"A crush?" She asked back.

I sighed. " It means when you like someone." The slightest shade of red morphed onto her face. "Shally and Al clearly have the hots for him so I was wondering if you did as well." I clarified, thinking back to when I first met him as Momon. "You were the only one who traveled with him out in the open."

"T-That was merely a scouting mission." She stammered, giving me my answer whether she knew it or not. "I'm quite sure lady Albedo and Lady Shalltear will suffice him….." She paused and looked away with the shade of red still evident on her face. "A-Although, if he were to a-ask I couldn't very well refuse."

I had to hold back a laugh which didn't go unnoticed by the maid. Her eyes narrowed and I could feel sparks of static heat up all around me. "Why do you laugh?" She asked, glaring at me as if I were somehow making fun of her.

I threw my hands up in the air. "I didn't mean anything by it."I said trying to calm the situation. "But c'mon Narberal, you have to admit it's kind of funny from the outside." She blinked, confused so I elaborated. " I mean, is there any female working in this temple that doesn't want to sleep with him?"

She quietly shook her head, once again giving me my answer. I was a bit shocked by the swiftness of the reply so I didn't immediately respond. "I see." I finally said looking back to Narberal with a new smile. I decided I could have a little fun with this scenario. "Well gotta give my respect to Ainz. He plan on laying some pipe with you Al, and Shally at the same time?"

"Laying some pipe?"

"Laying some pipe." I repeated, keeping my smile. "You know….the old horizontal mambo?" I nudged her elbow as I often did with my friends back home. "Helping him bury the bone, as it were."

This time she caught my meaning and did her best to scowl."Do you enjoy this kind of vulgar talk?"

"Depends on who's talking." I replied with a wink. "Like the local human hating whore, She should really practice some more."

"Go fuck yourself."

"Better." I replied before we both vanished into a white light. Not a moment later, we found ourselves inside the Nazarick throne room and under the gaze of the Nazarick's overlord. Albedo and stood by his side and when Narberal bowed her head, I did the same.

"My lord. Haon, as you requested." She said.

"Good work Narberal." Ainz said with a wave of his fingers. "You may go." She gave the swiftest of nods and vanished. "Haon." He said, sounding like he bit back a chuckle when he saw me dirtied up. "Settling in ok?" He asked in civil tone.

"It...It could be worse." I sighed, picking my head back up. I thought back to the Brides and how they said they hardly ever get to speak to Ainz. "You know, Reina and Remna are actually pretty fun to talk to. A lot of personality, just a bit shy upfront. You should chat with them sometime." Then looked at the succubus. The scowl on her face told me that I still wasn't liked, so I did my best to change that. "Thanks, by the way."

She scoffed. "For what, exactly?"

"Not killing me." I replied. "Before everything went black, it looked like you were going to." I thought back to the murderous look in her eye during our battle and realized that I was probably in much more danger than I felt comfortable admitting. "Did Ainz stop you or was it something else?"

That question did something. Her stone-like gaze broke ever so slightly. "You mentioned Frankenstein. Where did you hear of it?"

I gave a worried glance to Ainz, hoping he'd set it up so I didn't end up giving the woman some sort mental breakdown due to telling her that Ainz and and every other Supreme Being she and the others worshipped were actually just as human as me.

Thankfully, he seemed to understand."Her creator, Tabula often spoke of his favorite horror stories he had heard when he was younger." Ainz said. "Frankenstein was one of them."

"Tabula?" I repeated, inwardly smiling as a plan morphed into my mind. "Black suit? Lots of belts? Squid looking head?"

Ainz nodded as Albedo kept a now neutral gaze. Though it did weaken when I let out a laugh. "Oh, he and I used to swap stories all the time."

"You knew my creator?" Albedo's scowl returned. "I doubt that."

I gave a knowing grin. "It's true. He and I go way back. I'm actually the guy who pointed him to the other Supreme Ones.

I thought Al eyes were gonna pop out of her head when I said that. "Yep." I couldn't hold back a smile as I thought of the amount of bullshit I was spewing. "Want more proof? He also loved a little story called The Exorcist right? The tales of Count Dracula? An American Werewolf in London?"

Al's face contorted, like it couldn't register what I was saying. She had clearly heard of these stories but she couldn't fathom that I had as well. A bit ironic considering all those stories were made up by humans but again, to avoid any possible deaths or nervous breakdowns, I kept that little tidbit to myself. She looked back to Ainz then back to me. "Why are you surprised? I asked. "He made you right? Shouldn't he have told you this?

Her face darkened, her confusion replaced with a look of sadness and slight regret and when she didn't respond I figured it was best not to press the subject. "Right. Well if you ever want to hear those stories or a few others, just let me know. I'm kind of well of knowledge when it comes to that sort of thing." I looked back to Ainz who still looked to be glaring at me, though without eyes it was hard to tell. "Anyway, you wanted to see me?"

"I did." Ainz replied, his voice took a more authoritative tone. "After consulting with Albedo and reviewing my plans for the future, I have decided on the roll you will play." He pointed a skeletal finger at me. "You will act as a field agent for Nazarick. You will serve on various missions that will ultimately spread the name of Ainz Ooal Gown to every corner of the world.""

Spread the name of Ainz Ooal Gown? I'll admit, that made sense. If anyone from his guild, or YGGDRASIL in general, had arrived here as well, hearing the name would hopefully bring them into the fold quicker. "Ok." I replied, giving a swift nod fo the head. "Any idea what my first mission will be?"

Ainz gave an oddly chilling chuckle. "I do." He stood up from his chair. "Do you remember Sebas?"

"Sebas?" I repeated. I thought for a moment then shook my head. "Not really."

"He's the male you met when you happened across Shalltear." Ainz elaborated.

"Oh!" I exclaimed. "The butler guy."

"Correct." Ainz nodded. "Currently, he is out gathering information in the capital. You will be assigned to the same area and begin building up your reputation."

Okay, that was unexected. I raised an eyebrow. "Reputation as what?"

"Whatever you decide it to be." Ainz replied, giving me no small amount of breathing room when it came to choosing. "The point being, you must become renowned in the world for you to be of any use in spreading the name of Ainz Ooal Gown."

"Okay….." I looked to him, studying not just his look but how he acted in front of me as both Ainz and Momon. "You seem to have the Overlord and stern adventurer market covered. I guess I'll settle for the good guy."

"Good guy?"

I smiled as I thought of yet another nickname. "Yeah. Haon the Heroic has a nice ring to it."

"Excellent." Ainz waved his hand as magic poured into the room, wiping the dirt and grime off me and laying my old clothes and supplied appeared before my feet. All folded and looking like they had never been worn. "I trust you will be needing these back.

My eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas as I looked them over. It was all there. My cloak, my daggers, potions. All of it untouched as far as I could tell. "Awesome!" I wasted no time getting ready but a question popped into my head around the time I slipped my cloak on. "So what are you gonna do then?"

Albedo's lips curved in a devilish smile and I could've sworn I saw Ainz's eyes gleam. "Some miles away, there is a tribe of lizard-men living blissfully unaware of our existence." He spoke with an air of poisoned humor. " In a few days time, that will change."

"So you're just going to attack them?" I asked, not liking the idea of marching on a tribe of anyone who to my knowledge have done no harm.

"Correct." Ainz replied stepping down the stairs of his throne. "I need to see if those creature's can be of any use to me, and the best way to to that is to test their combat abilities."

I blinked a few times, wondering if he was skipping a step or two. "Why not just, you know, go and talk to them?" I asked back. An intense glare from Albedo told me I shouldn't make a habit of that, but nevertheless he responded.

"I have already considered that alternative as well as many others." He replied. "Believe me, you offer nothing that hasn't already been discussed by myself or my guardians."

I bit my tongue to stop my reply. He was dead-set on this particular idea and me constantly barking about how I didn't think it was a good idea wasn't gonna put me in his good graces any quicker. Besides, this was his mission and I had my own. "Right, well you know where I stand at least. Should I head out immediately?"

"Sooner rather than later." He nodded. "Though if you wish to take a little more time and explore Nazarick I will not object against it." He waved his hand to let me know we were finished. "Learn your new home well Haon. And the wrath of all those in it that your risk if you think of betraying it."

We were still on that, huh? This time, I didn't stop myself from replying. "Hey, I'm getting sick and tired of you and Al and anyone else thinking I'm gonna betray Nazarick or even suspecting it. Allow me to spell it out for you. I'M NOT THAT STUPID!"

There was a brief but ominous pause after my outburst so I decided end it on a more positive note. "…My lord."

Albedo's scowl faded slightly at my last two words but she still clenched her fists, ready to pummel me into the ground if Ainz so much as looked at her. Much to my relief, he did not. "Albedo, leave us."

Her face twisted with disappointment as she bowed her head and vanished. Not a moment after she left, Ainz's hand coved his face in a sign of exhaustion. "Damn it Haon. You know I have to be thorough."

"Well I'm sorry I have a backbone unlike everyone else here!" I shot back. "Seriously, do you know how in detail I had to go to get Reina and Remna a bit of courage when Shally calls on them again?"

"They are...were NPCs." He explained. "Obedience was programmed into them."

"Do they still seem like NPCs to you?" I asked. "Would a pair of NPCs really ask me about sex? I'm being serious, because you'd know more about this than I would."

He paused and looked up to the ceiling in contemplation."...No." He admitted shaking his skull. "I don't believe that it would without relating to a quest of some kind."

"Okay then." I breathed a sigh of relief sitting down on floor. "Sorry, but it gets annoying when everyone questions your loyalty to someone you know...vaguely, anyway."

He let out a low chuckle. "I can imagine." His eye sockets fell back to me. "Wait, how in detail did you go..."

"I didn't have sex with them." I quickly followed with a frown. "Not that the thought didn't cross my mind."

"Good move." Ainz tilted his head to the side. "I doubt Shalltear is partial to sharing."

I smiled at him but it dimmed when I remembered what I said. "Hey, you didn't mind me bringing up Tabula like that right?" I asked. "I hardly knew the guy but I don't want to insult him."

"I will admit, my anger did flare when you brought up his name." He started before waving a hand. "But you're from YGGDRASIL, and I know you actually met him. So it's fine. It was a good story for Albedo. Especially the idea that you pointed him to my guild." He sighed.

I scraped the back of my head and smiled. " Actually, that one wasn't fake." Ainz's head cocked again, confused. "He and I just came across each other one day in a forest and after seeing how strong he was already, I mentioned that he should go join you guys." I explained with a half chuckle. "I barely remembered it but he brought it up the last time we talked a few years ago. Thought it would be a nice little tidbit if I ever got the courage to come visit." I looked up to the flags of all the other Supreme Beings. "Guess it doesn't matter now, huh?"

Ainz's silence told me more than anything he could say. It felt like his guild mates might have been the only friends he ever had in his life. That would definately explain why he spent so much time in the game. And in a twisted kind of way, that now made him the most powerful person in this world by a series of miles.

Of course, If I had known I would eventually end up trapped here as well, friends or not, I would've lived in the game too. I thought back to my more than poor showing against Albedo and Shalltear with a heavy sigh that didn't go unnoticed by Ainz. "Something troubles you?"

I looked back to him. "I got my ass handed to me by both of your girlfriends." I scowled. "I need to get stronger."

"Ah yes." He said, sitting himself back on his throne and turning serious. "You fared poorly against my guardians, but you must understand that they are entrusted with that responsibility for a reason. Losing to them is nothing to be ashamed of." He let out another cold laugh. "If you're ego is really bruised, you haven't met any of the prominent warriors of this world.

"They're that bad?"

"Let me put it to you this way, I saved Re-Estize's greatest warrior from an attack in Carne." He explained. "And to be generous, he might've passed as a level 30"

30?! I heard Narberal's words run through my head again. And this time, I had to legitimately think that she was right. "So, does that make me the strongest human alive?"

"Certainly in conversation." Ainz nodded.

"Great." I sighed, keeping my smile. "That's gonna do wonders for my ego." I hardened my gaze, getting back to the task at hand. "So act as my own agent? Get my name out there?" I asked.

"Correct." He said, his kingly authority returning to his voice. "I want you with Sebas, you'll get along with him and he can supervise your training if you wish to get stronger."

"Sebas, huh?" I nodded, paying careful attention to the detail that I'll get along with him. "He's _not_ gonna hate my guts?"

"I'd be surprised." Ainz replied. "Sebas is less judgemental than he guardians. He was created by Touchme."

Touchme?! Ok, that was finally some good news. He and I always got along well during the three or four times we met. "Sounds good." I smiled. "I'll get started whenever you want me too."

"You'll be needing this." He said, tossing me what looked like a ring.

I smiled when I realized it was the same one I had borrowed of Mare. "You're giving this to me?"

"Think of it as a get out of jail free card. "Ainz answered. "You still can't teleport out of Nazarick but you will be able to teleport in from anywhere in the world. Use it only if you have vital information and have no way to contact my associates."

"Sounds good." I said. "So, am I walking out or..."

"I'll send you back out in a moment." Ainz replied tossing me a new, more detailed map. "You'll be heading to the Capital and once you get there, Solution will meet you. From there, you will meet Sebas and plan accordingly. Are we clear?"

"Sure." I replied, rolling it up and placing it in one of my many cloak pockets. "But one last thing." Ainz paused and allowed me to continue. "Is there anyone in Nazarick who doesn't want to fuck you?"

He stuttered his words before waving his hand and that was the last I saw of him. In an instant, I was back outside Nazarick in the bright sunshine and the smell of fresh air in my nose. Right, back to Re-Estize then.

"Hey! Haon!" An excited femine voice called out. I looked out away from the Tomb and saw Aura riding what looked like some sort of nightmare cross breed of a lizard and a spider. The beast stopped right in front of me and Aura gleamed down from atop. "You off already?"

I nodded. "Yep. No rest for the wicked, and all that."

"Oh, I thought you were gonna stick around longer." She sighed.

"Hey, odds are I'll be bouncing back and forth from here and Capital so try and catch me when I getting some rest. We'll..." I paused as I had no clue what she or her brother or any dark elf liked to do. "What exactly do you do for fun?"

"I go out and tame deadly creatures!" Aura replied. "I'm gonna go out dragon hunting one of these days. Let me know if you want to come!"

I nodded and expected her to charge off on her abomination from hell but she still stood there. "Anything else?" I asked.

"Shalltear was looking for you." Aura said, keeping her grin. She wants to talk with you about the Brides."

And with that I was gone. I darted off into the valley and towards the forest that surrounded the tomb. I'd deal with that some other time.

* * *

 **A/N: Tada! Here it is. I initially wanted to stay in Nazarick longer but I decided the story waits for no man. Haon will be back to keep messsing with everyone's lives. So don't worry about it.**

 **So what did you guys think? Good? Bad? Leave a review and let me know.**


	16. Unshaken

With the detailed map from Lord Ainz as well as my favorite necklace ever, It didn't take longer than a few days for me to reach the capital. Despite me being back in the wilderness and now basically serving the only other player who got sent to this new world with me, I was in rather good spirits. I finally had a plan that I could stick to and a base of operations filled with people who weren't actively trying to kill me. For the most part, anyway. Time to start getting famous.

But as I soared through the morning clouds, eager to start getting my name out there, I realized that I really had no plan on how to do that. Ainz had created Momon as an adventurer and in a relatively short time had risen through the guild's ranks through fighting an undead army as well as Shally. So I could take the same path as he did. But that would probably seem too coincidental, another warrior blowing in from nowhere and quickly rising through the ranks would seem suspicious to anyone who took notice. No, I needed to take a different approach and I knew just the one to take. The Royalty.

The Capital of Re-Estize was going to be a hub of dozens and dozens of wealthy nobles as well the home of the royal family. If I could buddy up with one of them, I'd say that would definitely get the notice of people. Of course, nobles and royalty weren't going to wast their time on some stranger who hasn't proved themselves.

Enter Gazef Stronoff, the man Ainz had saved at Carne village and the one regarded as the best warrior in the kingdom and the Chief warrior for the king himself. If I could fight him, and more importantly be seen fighting him, that would certainly do the trick. I could introduce myself as an up and coming warrior and simply nag him until he gives me a match. Maybe in front of the king, or nobles as a form of entertainment. From there...Well, I had to get there first. The only hiccups in my plan were that I had no clue who Gazef was personally or how he would act, though Ainz seemed to respect him. I knew even less about the king, the royal family, or the dozens and dozens of noble families that held power in the country, so I needed a bit of knowledge on them as well before I could move forward with my plan. My hope was that Sebas would be able to help in this regard. He had been in the Capital for some time now so hopefully he could give me some political pointers atop of combat ones.

That other little tidbit was also exciting. Sebas was created by TouchMe, Nazarick's lead warrior Supreme One and a seemingly decent guy from what I gathered from when we met back in YGGDRASIL. Naturally, he hardly spoke when he fought in tournaments. But when ever he wasn't fighting, he would go on and on about justice and helping people. More than likely he was role playing but that enthusiasm always brought a smile to my face. I wondered if this Sebas would remind me of him or not. I wiped that thought from my mind as I finally caught sight of the capital. It was gorgeous sight to behold. A dazzling white city that practically glowed under the blueing sky. And with no major caravans of people trying to get in through main gate, I flew back down to the earth and released the magic enchantment that kept me in the air.

After storing the flight necklace back into my inventory, I started walking towards the city's entrance. As it was close to four five pm there was plenty o fpeople wandering therough the streets. all of which paid little to no attention to me. Which worked out just fine, as I still needed to think about the Sebas situation. Supposedly I was going to be meeting a woman at some fancy building in the wealthy part of the city. Solution was her name, another member of the Pleiades. Which was just fine with me. I mean, Nabe looked like she was coming around she was supposed to be the one who hates humans the most. It shouldn't be too hard to convince the others, right?

As you can tell, I hadn't really had the pleasure of getting to know Solution yet. She was the blonde woman, whom some of you may remember her as Blondie back from when I met Shally. She was the one who found me and gave that eerie smile before taking off with Sebas in a carriage. There she stood, garbed in a subdued orange dress peering directly at me even as other people came and went through the gate. More than Al, Shally, Nabe, or anyone else from Nazarick, there was a cold hatred radiating off her. Not enough for most to notice, but plenty enough for me to.

"Looking at something, Ms.?" I asked folding my hands into the pockets of my coat and giving a stare of my own.

"It took you long enough to get here, servant."

Servant? I opened my mouth to let out one of my charming comebacks but quickly closed it. This was no time to get into a shouting match with what looked like a wealthy lady. I'd save that for later. "I apologize my lady, the road was not too kind to me..."

I had little time to react as firm yet unbelievably smooth hand smashed into my right cheek creating a thunderous 'SMACK'. "I don't pay you for your excuses, servant. Now come along." She ordered, turning around and walking away from me. I started rubbing my face, nursing what would doubtless be a crimson hand print in a few moments and muttered enough curses to make the devil himself proud. I was gonna get her for that.

I started behind her, taking care to stay just a few feet back just in case she decided to smack me again and began pondering somethings over. Either this was payback for me being rude to her in the forest, or that was a part of an act she was putting on as some sort of wealthy townswoman. Or maybe both. I hadn't exactly been let in on the plan or I would've tried to soften the blow on my cheek. But if option two was in play? Why the need to disguise herself? She was more powerful than anyone in this city so it's not like it was safety precaution. I decided not to inquire until we got in doors, lest it turns out I somehow stumble onto something I didn't need to know and royally fuck it up in the process. Which if you've been paying attention, is kind of my quirk.

We eventually stopped in front of a good sized house, probably three or four stories tall and well spaced out from the other surrounding buildings. She snapped her fingers as an order for me to come closer and then we both walked into the house. Once inside, She spun around and glared at me. "I don't know how you weaseled your way into Lord Ainz's favor but let me make something perfectly clear. You..."

"...Are an incessant little maggot who isn't worthy of licking the dirt and grime off Lord Ainz's boot. I am a stain on all those who pledge their services to Nazarick and if I so much as breath suspiciously, I'll be promptly chopped up, put through a grinder, and liquefied into some tasty beverage for you and any other monster in Nazarick to snack on. Sound about right?" I asked back, scratching the top of my head like what I just said didn't sound completely insane.

Her mouth lingered open like she wanted to say something back but I'm pretty sure I had thrown her for a loop with my interruption. "Look, Solution. Let _me_ make something very clear. I like living and I wish to continue living for as long as I can. To my knowledge, Lord Ainz is the strongest entity walking on this planet. So the last thing I'm going to do is find a way to piss him off or make him think that I'm a traitor. So, can we please skip the threatening bullshit and actually introduce each other?" I asked, extending a hand. "Hi, I'm Haon."

I wasn't exactly surprised when she ignored the gesture and turned away from me. "You will refer to me as Solution of the Pleiades. Lord Sebas is expecting you in the courtyard. You will follow."

It was about as cold a greeting as Nabe's but it was a greeting nonetheless. Baby steps. Baby steps.

"Lead on then." I replied.

We walked through the house at a brisk pace until we came to a door that led to an empty outdoor yard where a familiar elderly gentleman was standing. "Lord Sebas, the human is here."

"Thank you, Solution. That will be all." He replied, keeping his gaze to the sky above. Solution gave the swiftest nod I;d ever seen and turned away from both of us, disappearing back inside. "Mr. Haon, I take it?"

"I am." I replied. I recognized the voice from the night I met Shally. He had been that elderly gentleman who casually sentenced me to die. Probably not the best time to bring that up in front of him. "Look if you're going to threaten me like everyone else, I can save you the trouble and start listing off all the various ways I'll be killed, maimed or tortured."

To my surprise and delight, I finally managed to elicit a chuckle from one of Ainz's guardians. He peeled his eyes away from the sky and looked me over. I was right on the money about him being older. He had pure white pushed back hair and a full matching beard that was neatly trimmed and was dressed from head to tow in a rather expensive looking suit. He didn't look so much like a guardian as he did a proud butler. Again, I decided to keep that little thought to myself. Lest I somehow insult him into killing me. "Lord Ainz did say you were rather spirited." He replied, with a blink. "I am Sebas." he greeted with the slightest of nods.

Feeling rude, I returned the nod. "A pleasure to meet you."

"You may regret those words." He replied, looking down to his wrists and pulling back his gloves. "Tell me, Are you aware of your role in in Lord Ainz's plans?"

I nodded once again. "Sure. I'm gonna start building myself up. Get a proper reputation going."

"Correct." He replied looking back up to me. "And that will largely be your business. All you have to do for me is report in whenever called upon for status updates. And of course, training."

I raised my eyebrows. "Training?"

Sebas nodded. " Lord Ainz granted me knowledge of your previous bouts with ladies Shalltear and Albedo. He believes that you have potential to do better."

Getting a bad feeling, I readied myself for a fight. "And what do you think?"

Sebas stood still as stone before replying. "I will inform you after our bout." I barely had time to widen my eyes before a sizable pain in my chest exploded with enough force to launch me back and onto the ground. I let out a few coughs and saw him now standing over me with his arm raised out. "I can at least see you are more durable than these other humans."

More fighting. It's funny because you'd think that by joining a group you didn't want to fight, you wouldn't actually have to fight them. Then again, this wasn't going to be a full on brawl or fight to the death like with the ladies. This was him testing me. I shot him a smirk that I hoped would shine under the sun as I leaped back to my feet. "Ok, Sebi. Let me show you what I can do." His face remained blank as I charged toward him, and never changed throughout the entire fight.

I will spare you this pointless bit of fisticuffs as you probably understand by now where I stand in comparison to the denizens of Nazarick. But in case you haven't figured it out by my previous tussles with the Guardains, I'll tell you what Sebas told me after he called an end to our fight and I sat on the ground, bruised and muttering words of self encouragement that frequently sounded like "fucking idiot".

"If you are done cursing yourself..." He interrupted. I ceased my talking and looked up to him. "...I believe I understand what Lord Ainz sees in you." He outstretched his arm and I take it immediately. Once I was back on my feet, he continued. " Haon, you are a capable fighter. You're reflexes and strength would be counted as mythical among the most powerful humans of this land, and you fight with your brain as well as your instincts. A welcomed combination for a warrior of Nazarick." I felt an swelling of pride in my stomach as I listened to him and a large smile grew upon my face. "Unfortunately, those natural skills are currently wasted on one such as you."

And just like that, the smile was gone.

"There is no fire in your eyes when you fight." He said, crossing his arms. "Or if there is, it's far too dim for me to see. It's as if you don't see yourself as a warrior."

"What the hell are you talking about?" I half laughed, confused. "Of course, I'm a warrior."

"No." He stated, rather definitively. "Your body is that of a warrior's as is part of your mind. But your soul tells me you do not truly see yourself as one."

My temper started to flare. "So you can talk to souls now, huh? You do that to Ainz often?"

I saw the slightest stiffening of his body as he took a in a long breath. "You are new and unproven, so I shall forgive your tone." He replied. "But to answer your question, when I look at lord Ainz, I don't simply see a powerful figure with the skill and will to conquer anyone or anything he sets his gaze upon, I see a strong, dedicated, ruler of Nazarick who truly believes he is such. In short, an assurance of himself." He narrowed his gaze on me. "You lack that assurance. You don't know what you are."

My temper retreated and I felt so ashamed that I had to look away from him. "I apologize for that." I replied and focused on his last few words. "So, your saying that I don't really believe I am what I am."

Sebas blinked for the first time since I met him. "I'm saying that something inside you is halting you from becoming what you claim to be. And until you figure out what you truly are, I cannot help you grow stronger." He finished. "You have a room made for you on the third floor. I'd advise you rest and contemplate there."

I didn't really have enough confidence or energy to storm off after his words to me so I gave a simple nod. "Right, thanks I guess." I told him in what probably was the lowest tone I could muster before turning around and slinking off to where I could rest and rethink my life.

Not really a warrior. What kind of bullshit was that?! Sure, I wasn't quite as passionate about YGGDRASIL as some other people, but you don't get to level 90 without being a little bit skilled, right? My foul mood wasn't helped when I saw Solution standing in front of my door with the most hateful, shit-eating smile I had ever seen on a woman. On the plus side, she had forgone her pretty dress form earlier and now wore a more seductive version of the maid outfit Nabe had worn but I doubted that was for my pleasure. "Don't you have somewhere to be?" I asked, blinking a few times to try and disguise my memorizing her look.

"I needed to make sure you were capable of finding your room." She spat back.

"You mean the one with my name carved on it?" I asked pointing to the word HAON engraved on the wood of the door above her head. "Unless you have another Haon that you can threaten, mock, or smack around."

Her smile began to fade. "One human is more than enough."

"One Haon, you mean." I corrected with a growing grin. "And I don't know. It might be cool to have another one of me around. At the very least I'd have some good company." I chuckled. "Plus you'd get to go through your threats again. Win win." I gave her another look over. "Hell, I'd have listened to your threats if you wore this." I gestured to her clothes and winked. Her smile now fully vanished and a scowl sat in its place.

I had to let out another quick chuckle to try and calm the mood. "It's a joke, Solution. Learn to laugh at them."

"What do you hope to accomplish here, human?" She asked through gritted teeth. "To simply laugh at my expense?"

"That's my business, maid." I replied, putting my hands at my side. "But I'll tell you what, I can add making your life a little more entertaining to it, just like that." I snapped my fingers for dramatic effect.

We stared at each other for a moment and I was about forty percent sure she was going to attack me when she huffed and started marching away. Either she decided I wasn't worth the effort or she'd been given orders not to. Probably the latter.

But with that bit out of the way, I opened and slammed the door to my room behind me and flung myself onto the bed for a quick round of sleep.

* * *

I must've been more tired than I thought because I slept through the rest of the day and into the next morning. Just a little after seven, actually. I rubbed my eyes and thought about breakfast. I wouldn't mind talking with Sebas again, but at the risk of seeing Solution at the table, I decided it was best to go out into the city for a bit. Maybe find some other place I could eat. It made a whole lot of logical sense anyway. Odds were that I was gonna spend a lot of my free time in this city so I might as well learn the layout of it.

That particular decision led me down the street to a small blacksmith building. One in which a young man not too far apart from my age stood. I wouldn't have paid him any mind but since he was clothed in some rather expensive looking steel armor,he kind of stood out from anyone else in the road who wore the usual tattered and dirty clothes. My thought was, maybe he had some sort of connection to the more wealthy occupants in this city. He kept his head facing to a window just a few feet away. I walked over to the same window and saw what drew his gaze. A beautiful necklace made of a solid silver that dazzled in the morning sunlight, behind the window. I stared at it for a bit before looking back to the young man. His eyes still lingered on it, as if I wasn't even there. I chuckled as I finally recognized the look.

"Either you've got expensive tastes, or you're looking to impress a girl." I said over to the man. He snapped out of his trance and looked over at me. I waited for the kind of condescending reply you would expect from a typical wealthy man in a fantasy genre game but I didn't get it. He smiled and shook his head, ashamed he had been caught staring. "That, or you really like jewelry. I have a bad habit of assuming things."

"It's nothing like that." He defended. "I was just wondering if the princess would like it."

A Princess. I returned his smile and wondered just how much luckier I could get. "Ah, so it is about a girl." I stepped over to his side. "Well tell me this, what exactly do you want a gift from you to mean?"

He looked puzzled by my question. "Sir?"

"Well do you want it to mean, 'You're awesome' or 'There's no one else like you in the world'?" I lightly tapped his plated shoulder. "Or do you want it to mean something a bit more...romantic?"

"N-Neither." He repeated with a little more red in his face. "Just something that shows I'm grateful to her. That I'm luckiest man on the planet to be her bodyguard."

I was a bit surprised by that revelation but I guess it matched the personality. Probably not pompous enough to be a prince or royal blood. "Right, okay then." I nodded and pulled my pack off my back. "If it's 'Thank you' you're after, I think I've got something that will get the job done." I reached into it, feeling around for such an item as the man looked on with a raised eyebrow. "Aha!" I smiled and pulled my closed hand back out. "Here, give her this."

He caught the necklace with ease and looked it over. His eyes widened to the size of dinner plates when he saw what sparkled under the sun. "Rubies?"

"Rubies." I repeated. "Always thought they had a bit more personality than silver or gold."

"Y-You're just giving this to me?"

"Who said that?" I asked back. "I actually need your help with something. But I think we should at least be on a first name basis before anything else." I extended a hand. "Name's Haon."

He couldn't shake my hand fast enough. "Climb." He replied, jerking my hand up and down with a youthful vigor that matched his age.

Climb? That was a rather odd name for a boy wasn't it? Then again, I did meet a bastard named Brain some days ago so I decided not to waste anymore time than necessary. "Pleasure to meet you, Climb."

"Likewise, Haon." He replied with a rather gleeful smile. He looked down to the necklace I had given him then back to me. "But I'm wondering what exactly I could do to make up for this."

There it was. "I was actually hoping I could meet Gazeff Stronoff." I replied. "I hear he works for the king and since you act as bodyguard for the princess, you could put in a good word for me."

I was worried his enthusiasm would dampen when he realized that I was essentially using him to meet with someone further up the chain but to my surprise, he accepted it rather easily. "I see. Lord Stronoff is asleep at the palace right now but I can take you to him when he's agreeable."

I smiled and clapped my hands together. "That sounds just fine to me. Is there an inn or somewhere you frequent where I can meet wait for an answer?"

"The Azure Knight's just a little while down the street." He pointed away from me. "I can show you, if you want."

And that was that. I got my own appointment to meet the warrior captain of Re-Estize before breakfast on my first day in the capital. I don't know who or what decided that I should be this lucky but I wasn't gonna start questioning it now. I followed Climb down the street, not really talking so much as listening to him go on about how the princess was something out of a fairy tale. Beautiful, kind, polite, considerate, strong, brave. It just never ended with this guy. I was tempted to say more than a few things that, despite seeming funny to me, probably would have ruined the mood so I bit my tongue and smiled, nodded, and occasionally looked surprised.

"Why are you eager to meet lord Stronoff?" He asked, finally moving away from the princess.

"I hear he's the best warrior in the kingdom.' I answered. "And if he's feeling up to it, I'd like to see it myself."

"Ah." He nodded. "You wish to test yourself against him."

"More or less." I replied, regretting it instantly. That sounded a bit too ominous coming from some no name drifter like me. I needed to come up with a better reason. One that seemed too weird to not be true. I smiled when the answer hit me. "I'm actually making a list of the strongest fighters in this land. He's the only I've heard about so I figured I'd start with him."

That seemed to work. The glint in his eye dimmed and his smile returned. "Oh, well in that case. There are a few others below lord Stronoff that you should look at before him."

Great. Now I had to work through a list of people before getting to Gazeff. Me and my big mouth. "Such as?" I sighed.

"Well there's master Unglauss."

My widened eyes told him that I was surprised when I heard that name,"Brain Unglauss?" I repeated.

Climb nodded. "You know him?"

"We met on the road, sometime ago." I replied, not technically lying. "I had heard that he became a bandit out in the wilderness."

"That's what I understood, as well." Climb agreed, slowing his pace as the thought seemed to sadden him. "But something happened and he ended up back in the capital. Lord Stronoff found him in an alleyway and brought him back with him to nurse him back to his old self."

I raised an eyebrow in surprise. "He sounds like a pretty nice guy, to do that for a stranger."

Climb wasted no time in correcting me. "Actually, they met a while back in a tournament. Where they met in the finals."

I had myself a chuckle at how similar that sounded to me and Ainz. He looked puzzled by my laugh but I quickly changed the subject. "All right. So Brain's the second strongest. Any others?" I asked.

His pace quickened and his smile grew when he spoke again. "That would be lady Gagaran of Blue Rose."

A lady? I tilted my head back, surprised at yet another strange sounding name. "Lady Gagaran." I repeated. "What's she like?"

"You can ask her, if you want." Climb replied, stopping right in front of particular building with the words "Azure Knight" carved into it. "She comes by here after missions she takes with her group Blue Rose."

"Neat." I said, moving away from him and towards the entrance. "Then this is where you'll find me."

"Sir Haon?"

I shook my head. "I'm not knighted buddy. Haon will work just fine."

He accepted the correction with a nod and bowed his head. "Haon, thank you again."

"No problem. Hope your princess likes that necklace." I said with a quick wave of goodbye as I walked inside.

I wasn't expecting a place called the Azure Knight to be so bland looking. The area inside lacked anything resembling personality. No wanted posters or drawings upon it's pure white walls, no musical instruments lying around for anyone to offer some entertainment, no brawling drunkards or laughing patrons. All together it was a rather dull affair. Especially when compared to the liveliness of the taverns/inns back in YGGDRASIL. But to be fair, constant noise or fighting might not be the best idea long term if you want a successful business. And it was still early morning. It was far more likely that this place's more lively inhabitants were sleeping off a loud event filled night.

The lack of anything musical really did irritate me though. I was by no means a gifted musician back home but I always did like having some form of music on to relax. And ever since I ended up here, I've had to make do without it. I thought back to my inventory and smiled to myself. No more.

"Hey." I called out to the only other person in the room. A young brunette woman sitting behind a desk and in front of a wall of different wine bottles. She looked up from shining an empty cup over to me. "You mind if I play a little to pass the time?" I asked.

"Sure." She nodded. "As long as no one else complains, it's fine with me."

I gave an affirmative nod and once again pulled up my inventory. By now, I think I had come to terms with the fact that I could now simply swipe my fingers and pullout anything I had on me. It sure beat the hell out of going through my cloak, anyway. But nevertheless I did have me a little chuckle when I arrived at the object I wanted. I soon held a simple light mahogany guitar in my hands and sat myself down close to a window that looked out into the street.

I thought about which little tunes in my head I could sing. I wasn't a big fan of the techno pop junk so that was out. Something a little more metal? It didn't really seem like the time of day to head bang so that was a no. Reggae would probably just put me to sleep...I kept going through possible genres until one particular song lodged itself into my head. It was an older song that my grandparents had enjoyed listening to but I had always had a fondness for it. And it actually perfectly summarized the whole dilemma I faced now with Sebas telling me that I'm not really who I think I am. Or was it that I don't think I am what I actually am?

I shook my head to wave off the confusion and strung a few strings trying to get a feel for the instrument. The strings sounded in tune and settled myself into my chair and relaxed as I began to strumming the song I held in my head. Once I got a healthy rhythm going, I started to sing.

"May I...stand unshaken. Amidst, amidst the crash of the world. May I...stand unshaken. Amidst, amidst the crash of the world."

A few of the faces started looking to me in a haze of surprise. My guess was that they either hadn't heard this particular tune before or that I was a shockingly bad singer. Either one was possible so I didn't dwell on them. I thought about how I should introduce myself to this Gazeff. At a level thirty I could probably crush him easily so I was gonna have to hold back. The question, was how much?

"Did I hear the thunder? Did I hear you break?"

Was I going to show that I slightly more powerful than him or play it off as a talented youngster who still needed training. I could either go with either one.

 _"You don't know what you are._ "

"...I can't quite remember just what guided me this way. May I...stand unshaken. Amidst, amidst the crash of the world."

My words echoed through the room yet I could hardly focus on them as the voice of Sebas ran through my head. I also had that but to work through as I apparently didn't really believe in who I was. What the hell did that mean?

"The pines, they often whisper. Whisper what no one can tell. He who drinks from the deep waters. May he know the depths of the well."

Was it because I wasn't actually Haon until I got sucked into the place? Was the identity I had created for fun in a game something Sebas could see right through? If he could why did he still revere Ainz? He was just like me, right?"

"May I...stand unshaken. Amidst, amidst the crash of the world. May I...stand unshaken. Amidst, amidst the crash of the world."

It's safe to say that I was hitting a wall mentally. But on the bright side, It didn't seem to be affecting my music. I noticed a few new heads facing me. A group of golden haired warriors who looked like they had come in from a hidden back door somewhere. They were quite a diverse bunch, size wise. with the tallest being almost a head taller and twice as muscular than me and in a full set of armor while the smallest looked to be slouching to about my chest and wore a cloak and mask. There was four of them in total with the other two being a pair of twin women with matching hair styles, clothes and blank demeanor.

"Mmm, oh, traveler. What have you seen? Were there crossroads? Where you been, where you been? I once was standing tall? Now I feel my back's against the wall."

The faces of the three smaller women remained the same, but I did notice the larger man of the group keep his gaze locked on me. Thankfully, it wasn't one of the more hate filled stares like I had been getting recently. No, this one was more like I was some sort of prized steak. I shot him a smile as I decided to wrap it up and he returned it with a mischievous wink.

"May I...stand unshaken. Amidst, amidst the crash of the world. May I...stand unshaken. Amidst, amidst the crash of the world."

As the music died and a light applause rang out from the audience, the man left his group and marched over to me like he was on a mission. When he stood over me like some sort of gargoyle, I felt I had to respond. "Hello, I'm Haon. Can I help you?"

"Haon..." The voice was deep. But not as deep as it should've been for a man that size. And now that he was closer, I did notice that on the breastplate of his armor, there were two rounded out areas of metal for...well breasts. "Name's Gagaran." She greeted, leaning down towards me with a smile that I could only describe as intriguingly straightforward. "You wanna have some fun?"

I looked for any sign that she was joking on her face. A slight twitch around the lips? A quick blink? There was nothing there. So then I thought this will probably be like one of those false leads things. Where you think "fun" means one thing but to her it's actually something else. So, going with that idea and thinking I might as well play along, I told her. "Sure."

* * *

 **A/N: Well, if you can recognize the song, you know where my time as been for the last few months. Besides with the holidays anyway. But now I'm back, and I hoped you enjoyed this latest installment.**

 **Until we meet again, gods guide you.**


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